KOSCIUSZKO.
Born in Poland A.D. 1756. Died the 15^th. October 1817 near Solothurn in Switzerland. He and G^al. Lafayette were the only two Europeans who wore the Cross of the Order of Cincinnatus.
Dedicated to the American people.
Entered according to Act Congress by Paulin Miedzielsky, N.-York, 1833.

HISTORY

OF THE

LATE POLISH REVOLUTION,

AND THE

EVENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN.

BY JOSEPH HORDYNSKI,

MAJOR OF THE LATE TENTH REGIMENT OF LITHUANIAN LANCERS.

Fourth Edition.

BOSTON:

PRINTED FOR SUBSCRIBERS.

1833.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1833,
By Joseph Hordynski,
In the Clerk's Office of the District of Massachusetts.

TO

THE GREAT AND FREE NATION

OF THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

Liberated from prison, and from the prospect of a more gloomy future, by some of your fellow citizens, I have been so fortunate as to reach these happy shores. Providence has granted me to behold that fair country, and that nation, which every lover of freedom desires to see with his own eyes, and every freeman of Poland is wont to think of with love and esteem. Your land, long since the asylum of the persecuted, has welcomed me with hearty benevolence. From the first moment of my arrival to the present time, I have received daily proofs of your sympathy. Full of gratitude, and in the hope of doing you an acceptable service, I cannot better employ the moments allowed me during my stay among you, than by giving you a faithful account of our revolution, and of its true causes and motives, as well as of the events of the war by which it was followed. By a brief statement of the circumstances which brought about that revolution, I wish to inform you of the injustice and outrages, which my nation was compelled to endure, during fourteen years, in which both its natural rights, and the constitution solemnly guarantied to it, were trampled under foot. By a true account of the events of the ensuing war, you will be enabled to convince yourselves of the means by which small forces became victorious over a colossal power, as well as of the causes of the final catastrophe to which Poland has been doomed.

I am convinced that in many respects my narrative will be entirely opposed to the representations given in the public papers; for our land, like most countries struggling for liberty, was surrounded by enemies rather than friends. The sources from which these accounts have been drawn, are, first, my own recollections of events of which I was an eye-witness; secondly, the reports of my friends and comrades who were present; and lastly, (particularly as to the operations of the detached corps) the official reports of the army, which have not yet escaped my memory. The same course I have followed in the design of the plans, which have been traced partly from my own recollections of positions and scenes at which I was present, partly from the accurate reports of friends, and partly from public reports, assisted by my personal knowledge of localities.

Americans! I am neither an author nor a scholar by profession, but a simple republican and soldier. In such a one you will forgive faults in the form and style of writing. Do not then judge me as a writer, but see in me an unhappy Pole, who presents to your sympathies the picture of the fatal disasters of his unfortunate country, and of the manner in which it strove to regain its liberty, that first and greatest of national blessings. In this hope of your indulgence, I beg you to accept this work as a token of my gratitude and as a memorial of my short stay among you, as well as an expression of the great esteem, with which I shall always remain,

Americans, your devoted servant,
JOSEPH HORDYNSKI.

To the gentlemen who have aided me, by the translation, the execution of the plates, and the publication of the work, I offer the only recompense which they will permit me to make—my heartfelt thanks; and I assure them that in the feelings which prompt this acknowledgment, all my comrades will participate.

J.H.

---

Pronunciation.—To the Reader. There are difficulties in the way of accurate rules for the pronunciation of Polish words arising from the circumstance that some letters have varieties of sound which are indicated by signs in the Polish alphabet, and which cannot be represented in the English. Thus, the letter Z has, in addition to that of the English Z the sounds of jet and zet; the first indicated by a short line and the second by a dot placed over the letter. It has therefore been thought more for the convenience of readers, who may wish to know the English pronunciation of the names which occur in this work, to subjoin an alphabetical list of them and their pronunciation, than to give rules which must necessarily be imperfect. This list will be found at the end of the Volume.

CASIMIR PULASKI,
the undaunted Chief of the Poles during the Confederacy of Bar from 1768 to 1772. Born in 1746 & killed before Savannah in 1779 while fighting for the Liberty & Independence of these U.S.
Dedicated to the American people.
Entered according to Act of Congress by Paulin Miedzielsky, N.-York, 1833.

CONTENTS.

POLISH REVOLUTION.

[CHAPTER I.]

Geographical extent, population, and political importance of Poland, as anciently constituted.—Conduct of Napoleon in 1812.—Congress of Vienna.—Grand-duchy of Warsaw erected into a Kingdom.—Dispositions of Alexander.—Zajaczek appointed Viceroy, and Constantine Commander of the Army.—Constantine encroaches upon the civil administration.—Acts of tyranny.—Meeting of the Diet.—Public debates suppressed.—The Polish Conspiracy of 1821.—The Russian Conspiracy of 1824.—Union of the Patriotic Associations.—Death of Alexander.—The Revolt at St Petersburgh.—Punishment of the Patriots.—Coronation of Nicholas.—Constantine appointed Viceroy of Poland.—Oppressions of the Government.—Patriotic Club.—Influence of the French and Belgic Revolutions.—The Quartering-tax.—Excitement in Warsaw.—Arrest of the Students at Praga.—Day of the Revolution fixed upon.

In the early part of July, 1812, when the victorious armies of Napoleon had occupied Wilna, and threatened to annihilate the throne of the Czars, the Polish nation cherished the hope of recovering its former grandeur. The destiny of Poland was then in the hands of Napoleon, and it may be said with truth that on the destiny of Poland depended the security and peace of Europe.

Poland, as is well known to the reader, viewed in regard to its geographical situation and extent, as formerly constituted, forms a strong outwork against the Russian Colossus. Its territories extend to the eastward as far as the Dneiper, and westward as far as the Oder. Toward the north, they reach the Baltic and the government of Skoff, and their southern frontiers are the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea. This vast region, composed of the present Kingdom of Poland, the Grand-duchy of Posen, of Samogitia, Lithuania, Livonia, White Russia and Black Russia, Volhynia, Podolia, Ukraine, and Gallicia, is inhabited by twenty-two millions of Poles of the same descent, the same manners and customs, and the same language and religion. According to its ancient limits, the kingdom of Poland is among the first in Europe with regard to population and geographical extent.

The deputies, who, at the period above named, were sent from Warsaw to the Emperor Napoleon, laid before him the most earnest solicitations for the restoration of this state, and endeavoured to direct his views to the future, in order to convince him of its necessity. They concluded with the following words;—'Dites, Sire, que le royaume de Pologne existe, et ce décret sera pour le monde l'equivalent de la réalité.' To this he answered;—'Dans ma situation, j'ai beaucoup d'interêts à concilier, beaucoup de devoirs à remplir. Si j'avais regné pendant le premier, le second, ou le troisiême partage de la Pologne, j'aurais armé mes peuples pour la defendre. J'aime votre nation, j'autorise les efforts que vous voulez faire. C'est entièrment dans l'unanimité de sa population, que vous pourez trouver l'éspoir de succes. Je dois ajouter que j'ai guaranti a l'empereur d'Autriche l'intégrité de ses domaines.'[1]

Such a reply from Napoleon, the Poles could never have expected. For, who accompanied him so faithfully in all his expeditions as the sons of Poland? Thousands of Poles lie buried in Italy, Egypt, St Domingo, Spain, and Russia, who had fought for the integrity of the French Republic and for the aggrandizement of Napoleon. His cold reception of the deputies of Poland filled all patriots with sadness. They were now convinced, that the good wishes of Napoleon for Poland were not sincere, and that, through his marriage with Maria Louisa, he had come under Austrian influence. Thus the hope of territorial enlargement and national existence vanished away, and Napoleon, by his indifference to the interests of Poland, accelerated his own fall. The burning of Moscow, which was a chance that did not enter into his calculations, became the turning point of his fate. The Poles, who had contributed to his greatness, did not desert him in his distress; they were his companions to the very last. Half a squadron of them followed him to Elba, at his own request. The disasters of France decided the fate of Poland. By the Congress of Vienna, the Grand-duchy of Warsaw was made into a kingdom, and subjected to the iron sceptre of Russia.

At the first moment of entering upon the government of the kingdom, the Emperor Alexander seemed disposed to load Poland with benefits. On his return from Paris he was received by the inhabitants of Warsaw with the most unfeigned good will, and his stay in that city was marked by acts of beneficence. The words with which he then addressed the representatives of the nation, are still in the memory of every Pole.—'Gentlemen, I respect and love your nation. To these feelings on my part, in which all Europe partakes, you are entitled by your continual and disinterested sacrifices for the prosperity of other nations. I swear to maintain your constitution with all the privileges guarantied by it; and this same constitution I promise to grant to your brethren in the provinces, which are to be united with you in one kingdom.' The nation believed in these promises the more readily as the affectionate deportment of the monarch seemed to confirm them. During his stay in Warsaw, he paid visits to several of the most popular and patriotic families and individuals, and every where expressed himself in terms of the highest esteem for the Polish nation.

This show of benevolence, and the dreams of happiness with which it inspired the people, were not, however of long duration. Before his departure from Warsaw, the Emperor named as viceroy of Poland, the old general Zajaczek,[2] raising him to the dignity of a prince, and his own brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, as commander in chief of the Polish army. The appointment of these persons to the supreme power was already in direct opposition to all the promises he had made. For Zajaczek, through the infirmities of his advanced age, was unfit for the post of viceroy, and could be but an instrument in Russian hands; while in Constantine, the commander in chief of their army, the Poles received a tyrant.

Not long after the departure of Alexander, the encroachments of the Russian cabinet began to be felt. Removals of officers took place in all the branches of government, in particular of those known as patriots, who were supplanted by minions of Russia, men full of ambition and intrigue. In the first year of the Russian government, the bureau of Police was enlarged, and filled with persons whom the nation despised. The Polish army, which had gathered laurels in so many countries of the three continents, and which was held in such high estimation by the first monarch and general in Europe, was exposed, on the very first days of the new government, to the insults of Constantine. There was not an officer, but was grossly offended by the Grand Duke, and more than all, those who wore military decorations for their merits. No past services were valued; they only exposed those who were distinguished by them to greater persecution. In the first six months, many officers, among whom was the renowned general Sokolnicki, committed suicide; and nearly one half the officers and generals asked their dismission, among whom was General, the late Dictator, Chlopicki, who preferred poverty and want to such an ignominious service. The Polish army, those soldiers animated by feelings of honor and the love of distinction, were to be transformed into the machines of despotism. They who had faced death in so many battles, who were covered with wounds, and who had been called 'brethren' by the greatest leader of his age, were now to be beaten with the Russian knout. In the first year, few days passed in which some of the soldiers did not commit suicide.

This prince, who appeared not to find victims enough for his cruelty in the army, began to meddle with all the branches of administration, and to control them. Soon the liberty of the press was prohibited, freemasonry was interdicted, and a bureau of spies was established. The chief in this bureau of spies were Rozniecki, the vice-president of the city of Warsaw, Lubowidzki, a man of the name of Macrot, and Schlee. From the documents found upon Schlee and Macrot, it was ascertained that there were in Warsaw alone 900 spies. In the provinces their number amounted to 2000. The expenses and salaries of these spies, according to accounts found among their papers, drew from the public treasury $1,000,000, or 6,000,000 Polish gilders. Thus, our poor country, instead of employing her resources for the happiness of her children, was forced to pay the mercenaries hired to distress them. Soon Warsaw and the whole kingdom became one vast prison. These spies endeavoured to steal into every company, and were present in all public places. They tried to catch every conversation, and distorted every word spoken, with however innocent an intention, in regard to the policy and administration of the country. In order to extort money, they accused some of the most respected and honest persons, who were thrown into prison, and many of whom were never again seen by their families, from the midst of whom they had been dragged in the night-time, in order to conceal the crime from the eyes of the world. Persons who did not take off their hats in the streets before the Grand Duke, were compelled to draw barrows of mud upon the public places. There passed hardly a month in which some students were not arrested, and, without any trial, at the mere denunciation of a hireling spy, thrown into prison, where they lingered for years. Thus faded away in dungeons many fair and hopeful youths, the flower of our nation. In Warsaw, besides the public gaols, there were, beneath almost all of the barracks, prisons, where the victims of tyranny were tortured. The very orangery of the Grand Duke was transformed into a prison, from which some persons were liberated during the revolution, who had been confined there for years. It was in this prison that Lukasinski had been kept for a long time, though subsequently bound to a cannon and carried into Russia. In the gaols below the barracks of the artillery many dead bodies were found.

At the first meeting of the Diet, when the Grand Duke Constantine was among the deputies from the city of Praga, and debates commenced on various subjects which concerned the welfare of the country,—such as, the liberty of the press, the abolition of the central police and the spies, and the deposition of several of the higher officers, for which petitions had been sent to the monarch,—a decision was promulgated that the Diet should act in subordination to the will of the Grand Duke, and, in order to add force to this decision, the palace and its galleries were surrounded and filled by guards. All public debates during the session were prohibited, and a ticket from the police was required for admission. These tickets were distributed among Russian generals, officers of government and their families, and creatures of the court. Before such an auditory, discussions of the most sacred interest to the nation were to take place. No patriot could behold, without tears, the senators and fathers of the nations, descendants of Tarnowski, Zamoiski, Chodkiewicz, and Kosciusko, sitting with sad and drooping countenances, exposed to the scoffing and laughter of those minions of the court. The sacred halls were transformed into a theatre for Russian spectators.

In all the different bureaus, spies held important offices, and thus those bureaus became scenes of the most detestable intrigues. Law and right were trampled under foot, and the constitution itself was derided. They used to express themselves in the following and similar terms:—'What is the constitution? It is an impediment to the administration of the government, and the course of justice. The Grand Duke is the best constitution.'

A few years had passed away in this wretched state of the nation, when, towards 1821, our noble patriots, Krzyzanowski, Jablonowski, Plichta, Debek, and Soltyk, conceived the idea of emancipating their country by a revolution. Whilst occupied with their noble scheme, they were most agreeably surprised by receiving information, in 1824, of a similar patriotic union in Russia for throwing off the yoke of despotism. Their joy was increased when they received a summons from this patriotic union in Russia, at the head of which were Pestel, Releiew, Bestuzew, Kichelbeker, Murawiew, and Kachowski, to join hands with them. This junction was effected in Kiow, on the day of the great fair, when Prince Jablonowski became acquainted with some of their members, and was initiated into their plans. The invitation was received by the Poles with delight. Accustomed to combat for liberty, they offered with their whole hearts their aid in the redemption of the Sarmatic nation from the chains by which they had been so long bound down.

Soon after this, it was agreed to meet in the town of Orla, in the province of Little Russia, where solemn oaths were sworn to sacrifice life and property in the cause. Resolutions were taken, and the means of their execution were devised. The Russians promised to the Poles, in case of success, the surrender of all the provinces as far as the frontiers which Boleslaw-Chrobry had established. This promise, as well as that of eternal friendship between the two brother-nations, was sanctioned by the solemnity of oaths. The day fixed upon for the breaking out of the revolution, was the 25th anniversary of the accession of Alexander, in the month of May, 1826; and Biala-Cerkiew in Volhynia was the place selected for the first blow. The reason for choosing this place, was, that the whole imperial family and the greater part of the army were to assemble there, on the great plain of the Dneiper, to celebrate the anniversary of the coronation. This occasion was to be improved, to gain over all the well-disposed generals, and at the same time to secure the imperial family. In the meeting at Orla, it was required of the Poles, that, at the moment of the breaking out of the revolution, they should take the life of the Grand Duke Constantine. To this proposition, however, Prince Jablonowski answered in these well known words: 'Russians, brother Sarmatians, you have summoned us to co-operate in the holy work of breaking the bonds of slavery under which our Sarmatic race has so long pined. We come to you with sincere hearts, willing to sacrifice our fortunes and lives. Rely, my dear friends, on this our promise. The many struggles in which we have already fought for the sake of liberty, may warrant our assertions. Brethren, you demand of us to murder the Grand Duke. This we can never do. The Poles have never stained their hands with the blood of their princes. We promise you to secure his person in the moment of the revolution, and, as he belongs to you, we shall deliver him into your hands.'

The patriotic associations on both sides endeavored to increase their party, by the initiation of many brave men in the army and in civil life. In Lithuania, the respectable president of the nobles, Downarowicz, and the noble Rukiewicz of the Lithuanian corps, with many other officers, were admitted into the conspiracy, and among others Jgelstrom, Wigielin, Hoffman, and Wielkaniec. All the plans for the approaching revolution were arranged with the utmost circumspection, and every circumstance seemed to promise success, when the sudden death of the Emperor Alexander, at Taganrog, in the early part of December, 1825, darkened our bright hopes.

The news of his death had, at first, a stunning effect upon the patriotic club in Petersburgh. Nevertheless, they resolved to act. They hoped to profit by the troubles between Constantine and Nicholas, about the succession. On the 18th of December of the same year, the signal for revolt was given in Petersburgh. Some regiments of the guard were on the side of the patriots, and with them assembled great numbers of the people ready to fight for liberty. Yet all this was done without sufficient energy, and without good leaders. It was unfortunate, that at the time, Colonel Pestel, acknowledged by all to be a man of great talents and energy, happened to be absent in Moscow. The people assembled in their holy cause, but, being without leaders, began to fall into disorder, and a few discharges of cannon were sufficient to disperse them.

As the Grand Duke Constantine, on account of his marriage with a noble Polish lady, Grudzinska, in 1825, was obliged to renounce the throne of Russia, the imperial power was, by a written document, given to the Grand Duke Nicholas, as the eldest in succession after him.

Some days after the proclamation of Nicholas, all the prisons of the realm were prepared to receive their new inmates. Petersburgh, Moscow, Wilna, Kiow, Bialystok, and Warsaw, were appointed for the places of trial. Over the whole of Poland and Russia the sword of cruel revenge was suspended. In Petersburgh, the martyrs of liberty, Pestel, Muraview, Releiew, Bestuzew, Kachowski, were hung on the gallows, and more than two hundred persons of the noblest families were sent to Siberia. In Wilna, Kiow, and Moscow, an immense number were thrown into prison, or transported to Siberia. In Bialystok the Russian general, Wiliaminow, was appointed an inquisitor. This infamous character treated the wretched prisoners with the utmost cruelty. Rukiewicz,[3] Jgelstrom, and Wigelin, were exiled to Siberia for life.

In Warsaw, the Grand Duke himself undertook the business of establishing an inquisition over the unhappy prisoners. This court was composed of persons in the Russian interest, a circumstance, the melancholy consequences of which soon became manifest. Senator Soltyk, an old man seventy years of age, was flogged with the knout. Krzyzanowski, unable to endure the tortures inflicted upon him, committed suicide. General Procurator Wyezechowski, that unworthy son of Poland, sentenced all who were condemned to death, to be hung on a gallows, and their bodies to be exposed upon the wheel. This horrid sentence, however, was, notwithstanding all the Grand Duke's influence, mitigated by the supreme court of the senate, which still contained many worthy men under the presidency of the venerable woyewode, Bilinski. The infamous Wyezechowski was unable to oppose this virtuous old man, whose powerful eloquence was a mirror of his noble heart. President Bilinski, fearless of the threats of the Russians, whose briberies he was accustomed to treat with disdain, guided by the articles of the criminal code, altered the sentence of death to a few years imprisonment. This mitigation of the sentence was signed by all the senators, with one exception.[4]

After Nicholas had ascended the throne over steps of blood, he was crowned, in 1826, Emperor of Russia. Two years after this, in 1828, he was again crowned in Warsaw as King of Poland. This monarch at first intended not to go through with the ceremony of the coronation in Warsaw, in order to avoid the oath of the constitution. Yet, from fear of revolutionary scenes, he suffered himself to be persuaded to do it, and took the oath, like his predecessor and brother, Alexander, to maintain the constitution and the privileges guarantied by it.

Poland may have suffered under Alexander; yet he loved the nation like a friend, as every one of my countrymen will allow. When he was mistaken in his measures, it was, that, surrounded by bad men and enemies of our nation, he was prevented from knowing the truth. He was himself too much engrossed in pleasures, to visit the hut of the poor in order to obtain information of his condition. Poland forgave him all his faults, in the grateful recollection that he had restored her to a separate existence, and respected the constitution. Far different in our eyes appeared the present emperor, Nicholas. Partaking of the errors of his predecessor, he exhibited none of his virtues. Alexander, with a benignant countenance, permitted every one to approach him freely, and his features were never distorted by passion. Nicholas, on the contrary, seemed to terrify by his very look. His lowering and overbearing eye was the true mirror of Asiatic despotism. Every movement was that of command; and his imperious air was in true harmony with the ruling passion of his mind. Such a sovereign, acting through the instrumentality of a brother like himself, the Grand Duke Constantine, must needs bring distress upon our country. Whole volumes might be filled with the relation of the atrocities of this government. The daily increasing host of spies in its employ, among whom even females were found, regarded nothing as sacred, and mocked at the most holy institutions. They lavished away millions of the public funds. Everything was permitted to them. In short, the intention of this government seemed to be to plunge our country into the deepest distress, in order to force us to the abandonment of every national feeling, and to make us slaves of the Russians. Yet in this hope they were deceived. The more the nation was oppressed,[5] the more its energy of character was steeled, and the more the love of country developed itself.

Two worthy sons of Poland, Wysocki and Schlegel, mourning over the martyrdom of Krzyzanowoski, Soltyk, Dembek, and Plichta, and meditating on the distresses of their country, resolved to attempt its deliverance. By these two young champions of Poland, the first idea of the revolution was conceived. They communicated their hopes to several other patriots, and thus was formed the Patriotic Club. This association, nourishing in their secret breasts the holy spark of liberty, increased it soon to a flaming light, by which the whole nation was led to honor and glory. These heroic men fearlessly persevered in their endeavors, during five years, exposed to the greatest dangers and amidst thousands of spies. Witnesses of the continually aggravated oppression of their country, they became more and more animated to risk every thing for their holy object.

While this tyrannical government was exulting in the success of its measures, and the honor and morals of our country were fast declining, the revolution of France occurred, and it instantly roused every mind to a comparison of our state with that of the French, who had thrown off the yoke of a Machiavelian dynasty. The three days of July were days of joy, not only to every brave son of France, but to every patriotic heart in Poland. How much were they enraptured, who hitherto in secret had been labouring for the redemption of their country! The happy result of those glorious days was a peal of terror to the Grand Duke Constantine, and to the whole swarm of agents in his tyrannical sway. It gave them a presage of their approaching retribution. Yet, instead of adopting milder measures, and endeavouring to propitiate the nation, their cruelties went on as before. The government had, indeed, advanced too far in its barbarous system to draw back. The activity of the spies was redoubled. From the first reception of the news of the French revolution, there did not pass a day on which some persons were not imprisoned in Warsaw or the provinces. On the night of the 7th of September, forty students were seized in their beds and carried to prison.

Again, the new revolutionary eruption of Belgium cheered and encouraged the heart of every patriotic Pole. The hour for throwing off the yoke of tyranny was fast approaching. The leaders of the revolution succeeded in communicating their sentiments to continually increasing numbers. Many officers of the 4th regiment of the line and of the sappers were initiated. Yet at this very time, when the revolution was every moment expected to break out, the Russian despot, in concert with Prussia and Austria, commenced his preparations for a war against France and Belgium. The Polish army was destined to serve as the vanguard of this expedition, and Modlin and Warsaw were stored with large quantities of arms and ammunition from Russia. All the regiments were completed, and the order for marching was momentarily expected.

These circumstances attracted the notice of our patriots, and they decided to accelerate the revolution, in order to anticipate the march of the army. The eruption was hastened by the following event. The citizens of Warsaw were obliged to furnish quarters for the officers of the army. To lighten this burden, and to avoid various inconveniences, as well as to accommodate the officers,—by an understanding with the inhabitants, it was determined, that instead of furnishing quarters, a quartering tax should be paid. It was intended in this regulation to proportion the tax to the size of the houses, and consequently to the profit which the proprietors would derive from letting them. The tax would in this way be equalized, because, wherever levied, it would be attended by a proportionate compensation, and it was satisfactory to the inhabitants. This regulation, however, was executed in an entirely different manner. In many cases the heavier taxes were paid by the poorer inhabitants, and indeed they had sometimes to provide quarters in addition to the payment of the tax. All the persons employed by the police as spies, and who had by vile means acquired immense fortunes and kept the finest houses in Warsaw, were exempt both from the tax and the providing of quarters. The money collected for the tax was purloined by the commissioners for quartering, who thus amassed millions of gilders.[7]

A short time before the revolution, the gross impositions of this commission were discovered. The inhabitants of Warsaw began to murmur against it, and addressed the government for the removal of the persons employed, and the substitution of others in their places, who should be deserving of the confidence of the citizens. Among others, the deposition of the president of the city, Woyda, was demanded; and when the government refused to comply with the request, he was publicly insulted and flogged in the streets. The discontent of the citizens, in particular of the poorer classes, continued to increase, and of this discontent the patriots made use in endeavouring to propagate their views of the necessity of a revolution. Public opinion was from day to day expressed more boldly. Papers were pasted up in the streets, with inscriptions such as these:—'The dwelling of the Grand Duke will be let from next new year's day.'—'Away with the tyrants! Away with the barbarians to Asia!' A great concourse of citizens assembled one evening before the city hall, and demanded the punishment of the quartering commissioner, Czarnecki, who, in his desperation, committed suicide.

The holy moment was now fast approaching, and Warsaw was in anxious expectation. Fear and terror was painted in the faces of the spies, while, on the other hand, all true patriots were in raptures of joy, and waited impatiently for the moment to strike the blow. For several nights the whole garrison of the city had been under arms, by the orders of the Grand Duke, who, tortured with the consciousness of so many crimes, had no rest, and surrounded himself with large bodies of guards. A hundred gens d'armes were on horseback for many nights, constantly bringing in their victims. Strong patroles of Russian soldiers traversed the streets. All was in vain. His mercenaries could not protect the tyrant. The word was given, the oath was sworn, to fight for our sacred rights and the freedom of our country.

An event which served to irritate all minds, and hasten the revolution, was the arrest and imprisonment of eighty students. These brave young men were assembled in a private house, in order to pray to God in secret for the souls of their murdered ancestors, on the anniversary of the storming of Praga, by the bloody Suwarrow, in 1796, when none were spared, and Praga swam with blood, and was strewed with the corpses of 30,000 of its inhabitants. Neither old men, women, children, nor pregnant mothers, were spared by the barbarous Russian soldiers. In memory of this event, the patriots had every year met for secret prayer, since public devotions on the occasion had been forbidden by the Grand Duke. The abovementioned students, with some priests, were in the act of worship, praying to the Almighty, and honoring the memory of their forefathers, when the doors were broken open with great violence, and a number of gens d'armes, under their captain, Jurgaszko, with a company of Russian soldiers behind them, entered the apartment. Our brave youths continued their prayers upon their knees about the altar, and in that position suffered themselves to be bound, and dragged away to prison. But this was the last act of cruelty the Russian government was permitted to perpetrate, for it exhausted the patience of the nation. The measure was full, and the hour of retribution was at hand. The news of this outrage was spread through Warsaw with the quickness of lightning, and it thrilled every heart. This was the occasion for fixing upon the 29th of November, as the day for commencing the revolution, on which day the 4th Polish regiment, many of the officers of which were among the initiated, were to mount guard in Warsaw.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] 'Say, Sire, that the kingdom of Poland exists, and that declaration will be, in the eyes of the world, the equivalent of the reality.' To this he answered;—'In my situation, I have many interests to conciliate, many duties to fulfil. If I had reigned during the first, the second, or the third partition of Poland, I would have armed my people to defend her. I love your nation; I authorize the efforts which you wish to make. It is alone in the unanimity of your population that you will find the hope of success. I ought to add that I have guarantied to the Emperor of Austria the integrity of his dominions.'

[2] Zajaczek commenced his military career in the time of Kosciusko, continued it among the Polish legions, and accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, where he served with distinction. He was present in all the later campaigns of Napoleon, till 1809, when he returned, on account of his advanced age and the loss of one of his legs.

[3] This nobleman (Rukiewicz) had two beautiful sisters, Cornelia and Theresa, whose heroic behavior deserves to be recorded. He was secretary of the Patriotic Club in Lithuania, and kept the records and papers of the society in the village where he lived, near Bialystok; and in order to do this business without disturbance, he had prepared a little summer-house in the garden near his mansion. He happened to be from home when arrested, and immediately after his arrest, the police sent a Russian officer with gens d'armes to his village, in order to take possession of his papers. His sisters, who were ignorant of the event, were quietly at home when they beheld the officer with his suite riding into the court-yard. A presaging fear of the truth seized them, but gave place immediately to an heroic resolution. The younger remained in the room in order to receive and detain these agents of tyranny, whilst the elder, Cornelia, carried in haste some combustibles to the summer-house, which was soon on fire, and more than two hundred persons, whose names were contained in the register, were thus saved by the presence of mind of that heroic lady. She returned to the parlor with the noblest and most delighted mien, and, on the officer's enquiring as to the cause of the fire, she answered with a smile, 'Gentlemen, I only wanted to save you the trouble of some farther brutalities. I have burnt the papers and documents of my brother. You may be sure not to find anything left; and now I am your prisoner. Drag me along with you, to increase the number of your victims.' Both the ladies were carried to prison, and treated in the most unworthy manner during three years. When these noble sisters were dismissed from prison, they found themselves bereft of every consolation. They had no parents left. Their only brother, who had been both parent and brother to them, was now gone. They could not endure the thought of leaving him to pine away so far from them in chains, and they resolved to partake and thus to relieve his sufferings. Regardless of the remonstrances of their friends, they left everything, and, travelling in the humblest manner, mostly on foot or upon the wagons of the peasantry, they undertook the journey to Siberia. It is not known whether Providence granted them to reach their beloved brother or not.

[4] To this court, which was called the Supreme Court of the Diet, and which was established in order to try these prisoners of state, was appointed general Count Vincenti Krasinski, a man of great merit, a brave soldier as well as a good citizen, and on this account very much beloved by the nation. The soldiers, indeed, regarded him as a father. Yet this man could so far forget himself as to take up the bloody pen to sign the death of his fellow citizens—the only one of his nation. It is with painful feelings that I name him in this narrative as the enemy of his country, after having been faithful to it for fifty years, and after having made for it the greatest sacrifices. Vincenti Krasinski, whom his country has erased, as a lost son, from the register of her children, is a strong example of the great power of Russian seduction.

[5] As already remarked, it would be impossible to describe the various kinds of cruelty exercised by the Russian government. Yet, in order to make the reader acquainted with some of them, I shall here state a few facts.—In our country, the distilling and brewing of spirituous liquors, and the planting of tobacco, as well as the sale of these articles, was a privilege of the landed proprietors. Warsaw, as the capital and the most populous city, was the best market for these productions, and all the noblemen endeavoured to bring their produce to Warsaw for sale. In this manner they supplied themselves with money and enhanced the value of their grain, while their liquors, as well as tobacco, could be sold at very low prices, to the pecuniary benefit of all the laboring classes and the soldiery. These advantages, however, soon became an object of attention to the government agents. One of their number, the Jew, Nowachowiez, who, by the greatest impositions, had acquired an immense fortune, devised a plan for monopolizing the production and sale of every kind of liquor and of tobacco. He obtained the exclusive right of selling them, and all the noblemen were forbidden to dispose of these articles without his permission, for which a duty was to be paid. For this monopoly he paid to the government 2,000,000 of Polish gilders ($333,333 1/3) for which he more than doubly indemnified himself by the enormous taxes levied upon the consumers of these articles. This innovation, so oppressive to the poorer classes, and invented merely to enrich this Jew and his partners, irritated all the land proprietors, and still more the laboring classes, who were suffering by it. For two years in succession petitions were made for the reformation of these abuses, but the government only insisted upon the prohibition with the greater severity. Nowachowiez, indeed, employed a guard, who wore uniforms. All the environs of Warsaw were filled with these guards, and the greatest excesses were committed by them. A poor day-laborer, after having purchased at some distance from the city, some brandy and tobacco, carried these articles at evening to Warsaw. On his way he was stopped by these men. They took all from him, and demanded a heavier fine than the articles were worth. As the poor man was unable to pay the fine, they abused him, and were about to carry him to prison. He succeeded, however, in making his escape, and, as it was in the vicinity of the residence of a nobleman by the name of Biernacki, he sought shelter on his estate. The guards in pursuit entered the mansion of this nobleman. Biernacki heard the tumult of the guard seizing and roughly handling the poor man, and, ascertaining the cause of the disturbance, he censured them for their inhumanity about such a trifle. In order, however, to save the man from farther insults, he retained him, with the intention of sending him the next day with a note to Nowachowiez for his exculpation. The very moment that Biernacki was occupied in writing the letter, an officer of the gens d'armes, with four privates, stepped in. Biernacki inquired the cause of this visit, and was told in answer, that he was arrested for having protected a defrauder. Thus, surrounded by four soldiers, this man was publicly carried through Warsaw to the prison of the Carmelites. Not satisfied with this, Nowachowiez succeeded in obtaining from the Grand Duke, who hated Biernacki as a patriotic Pole, a squadron of Russian Hulans, consisting of 200 horse, to quarter for a whole week on his estate, in execution, as it is termed. The Russian soldiers took possession of all the buildings on the estate. In the apartments which they used for barracks, they broke all the furniture, lustres, pianos, &c., and carried in their straw for sleeping. In the court-yard they made a fire, for which they used the pieces of furniture for fuel. They took the wheat from the barns to feed their horses, and butchered the cattle. In short, the most shameful depredations and excesses were committed by officers and soldiers, regardless of the situation of the lady of this nobleman, who was confined in childbed, and who for a whole year was in danger of her life from the consequences of her terror. This barbarous order of the Grand Duke ruined the fortune of that unhappy man, and the amount of his property destroyed may be estimated at least at from 70,000 to 80,000 gilders. Biernacki was imprisoned for a whole year, after which he was dismissed to weep over the sufferings of his wife, and his ruined fortune. The poor offender was punished with 800 blows of the knout, of which he died in a few days.

The second story perhaps surpasses the former in cruelty, and would suit the times of Nero. General Rozniecki, and the vice president of the City of Warsaw, Lubowiecki, had their agents, who travelled through the country in order to superintend the services of the secret police. Among them was a Jew, named Birnbaum, whose crimes surpass conception. He travelled through the whole country, and every where found pretexts for accusations against the noblemen, who had to pay him fines to secure themselves from prison. He took up vast sums, that were never accounted for to his superiors. They were divided with Rozniecki, Lubowiecki, Macrot, and Schlee, with some Russian generals, and the servants of the Grand Duke, Kochanowski and Trize, all of whom, like this Jew, made immense fortunes, some of them to the amount of hundreds of thousands. When, in order to encourage the manufactures of the country, the importation of all broadcloths, cotton and linen goods were forbidden, Birnbaum, in secret understanding with his superiors, found out the way of drawing to himself the greatest advantages from this decree. He persuaded two other Jews, by the promise of a part of the gain, and of his protection, to smuggle these articles and to sell them among the gentry of the country. A place on the frontiers was selected for a depot of these contraband wares, which the country noblemen purchased in ignorance of their unlawful importation, and induced by their low prices. On a sudden, Birnbaum visited these districts, examined the warehouses of the noblemen, found the contraband goods, and forced them to the alternative of either paying him a large sum of money or going to prison. Many, for the sake of peace, paid the fines imposed; others, who refused, were imprisoned. By such means, this Jew, as was found afterwards by the records and documents of the police, brought to prison more than a hundred persons, who were treated in the most barbarous manner. They had no food given them but herrings without water, and many of these unfortunate persons died in consequence. At last Birnbaum fell out with his accomplices, on occasion of the division of profits. He had them, likewise, thrown into prison to perish there. Their families, however, accused him at their Kahal,[6] or Council of the Jews, and by means of money contrived to have him arrested. He was poisoned in his prison, as many persons of consequence were found to be implicated in his impositions.

[6] Kahal is a Jewish court of administration, composed of the elders, who are responsible to the government for their nation, and are of great authority.

[7] One man of the name of Czarnecki, a commissioner of the quartering bureau, in a short time made by these means two millions of gilders; and this robber of the poor carried his luxury so far as to make use of bathing tubs lined with silver.

[CHAPTER II.]

Principles of the Revolution.—The First Night.—Attack on the Barracks of the Russian Cavalry.—Their Dispersion.—Attempt to secure the person of the Grand Duke.—Capture of Russian general officers and spies.—Actions with detached bodies of Russian cavalry.—Two companies of Polish light-infantry join the patriots.—Death of Potocki and Trembicki.—The Russian infantry attacked and dispersed.—Armament and assembling of the people.—Detachments sent to Praga.

It is undeniable that the history of our nation abounds in heroic acts and glorious passages. Need we instance the times of Boleslaw, Casimir, Jagelo, Augustus of Warna, and Sobieski; or the deeds of our renowned generals Czarnecki, Chodkiewicz, Tarnowski, Sapieha, Kosciusko, and Poniatowski? Yet, in our whole history, nothing transcends this last revolution; and indeed few more memorable events have ever occurred. Its plan was based on the purest motives, and this constitutes its peculiar character. Those true sons of Poland, Wysocki and Schlegel, had no other design than to regenerate public morals and the national character, which had already begun to deteriorate under Russian influence; though, perhaps, there may have mingled with these another impulse—that of vengeance for the ignominy to which we were subjected. These feelings were shared by the whole nation—certainly a rare instance in history. Inspired by the example of the brave, even the wavering joined in upholding the good cause to support which the sword was drawn. It was this unanimity which emboldened us, small as our numbers were, to meet that colossal power dreaded by all Europe. We were not animated to this unequal struggle by any vain desire of conquest, but by a resolution to shake off a yoke so disgraceful, and by the wish to preserve our civilization, and to extend it even to Russia. In drawing the sword, every Pole had in view not only the freedom of his own country, but that of his Sarmatian brethren also. The Poles believed that Russia still remembered those martyrs of liberty, Pestel, Bestuzew, Morawiew, Kachowski, and Releiew, who suffered an ignominious death, and more than five hundred others who were sent in chains to Siberia. We believed they would bear in mind, that, in 1824, they themselves summoned us to fight, side by side, with them against despotism. Their words were still in our memory—'Poles, help us in our holy cause! Unite your hearts with ours! Are we not brethren?' Unworthy nation—soothed by the momentary blandishments of the autocrat, who scattered his decorations with a lavish hand, they forgot their own past sufferings and the future that awaits them. They suffered themselves to be led against those who were in arms for the liberty of both nations. At the very time when the funeral rites of those who had died in battle, Russians as well as Poles, were being celebrated in Warsaw and all the provinces, they burned our villages, and murdered our fathers and brothers. Russians! You have covered yourselves with eternal shame, in the eyes of the whole world. Even the nations you consider your friends and allies contemn you!

THE FIRST NIGHT.

The patriots assembled early in the morning of the 29th of November, to renew their oaths and ask the blessing of the Almighty on their great undertaking. The moment approached. Seven in the evening was the hour appointed for the commencement of the revolution. The signal agreed upon was, that a wooden house should be set on fire in Szulec street, near the Vistula. The patriots were scattered over the city, ready to stir up the people on the appearance of the signal. Most of them were young men and students. Some hundred and twenty students, who were to make the beginning, were assembled in the southern part of Warsaw. All was ready. At the stroke of seven, as soon as the flame of the house was seen reflected on the sky, many brave students, and some officers, rode through the streets of that part of the city called The Old Town, shouting, 'Poles! brethren! the hour of vengeance has struck! The time to revenge the tortures and cruelties of fifteen years is come! Down with the tyrants! To arms, brethren; to arms! Our country forever!'

The excitement spread through this part of the city with incredible rapidity. The citizens flocked together from all quarters, shouting 'Down with the tyrants! Poland forever!' At the same time a hundred and twenty students left their barrack (which is called the Hotel of the Cadets, and is situated in the royal gardens of Lazienki) under their gallant leaders, Wysocki and Schlegel, and marched to the quarters of the Russian cavalry, cuirasseurs, hulans and hussars. It was resolved to take immediate possession of all the chief gates. The issuing out of the Russian troops was thereby rendered very difficult and bloody, as the barracks were surrounded by a wide and deep moat, over which there were few bridges. On their arrival, the cadets found the soldiers in the utmost confusion. Some were saddling their horses, some were leading them out, and others were occupied in securing the magazines, &c. In short, panic and disorder pervaded officers and men; each sought his own safety only. Our young heroes took advantage of this confusion, and after firing a few rounds, rushed with the hurrah through the gates. This charge sufficed: a hundred and twenty of these young Poles, after having killed forty or fifty men with ball and bayonet, dispersed some eighteen hundred Russian cavalry. Cuirasseurs, hulans and hussars mingled together, joined in the cry of terror, and began to seek concealment in garrets, stables, cellars, &c. A great number were drowned in attempting to cross the canal in order to escape into the adjoining gardens. As the barracks were closely connected with wooden buildings filled with hay, straw, and other combustible articles, not a man would have escaped had they been fired. The young Poles refrained from this, in mercy. The Russians might all have been made prisoners; for so great was their panic that they were not ashamed to beg for quarter on their knees. But these advantages were, for the time, neglected. The cadets abandoned the attack, and hastened into the city, where their presence was more necessary.

While their comrades were attacking the barracks, some ten or twelve students traversed the gardens towards the palace of the Grand Duke (called the Belvidere) in order to secure his person.[8] Some of them guarded the passages on the side of the gardens, while others penetrated to the tyrant's apartment. But he had escaped through a secret door.

On the failure of the party of cadets sent to secure the person of the Grand Duke, they left his apartments without in the least disturbing the repose of his lady. As they reached the foot of the stairs, they met Lubowicki, the vice-president of the city, coming to the Grand Duke for instructions. As soon as he saw them, he began to cry for aid, but the next moment fell on his knees and begged for his life. They took him with them, intending to extract from him all the information he was able to give. In the court-yard they met the Russian general, Gendre,[9] aid-de-camp of the Grand Duke, with some ten or twelve armed men. They resolutely attacked him. Gendre fell under their bayonets, and his followers fled. The party meeting with no farther obstacles, returned to their friends, whom they found at the bridge of Sobieski.

The company of cadets, after having finished their attack upon the barracks of the Russian cavalry, marched along the high road which traverses the Park, over the bridge of Sobieski, towards the main avenue between the terraces of the hospital Ujasdow on one side, and those of the Botanical Garden on the other. After having arrived at this bridge, they heard the noise of horses in front, as of cavalry advancing. It was in fact a company of Russian cuirasseurs, who were on guard in this part of the park, and who were now hastening to save the barracks. Immediately a plan was formed to receive them. The cadets, forming in a line, concealed themselves in the Park near the street. The cuirasseurs came up; they were permitted to advance, and were then received with a brisk fire. The heavy cavalry, who could not turn in this narrow road, suffered severely. Sixty bodies were found on the spot. The rest fled in the greatest disorder. From this bridge, that handful of brave young men passed the street of Wieyska, and, after arriving at the barracks of Radziwil, they met a squadron of Russian hussars returning from a patrol. At the same time they heard the Russian cavalry in pursuit, who had gained time to mount at their barracks. This was a critical moment, but it was met with resolution. One half threw themselves into the ditch in order to receive the hussars; and the others formed a platoon, and with hurrahs and the shout of 'Poland forever!' discharged their pieces and attacked the cuirasseurs in their rear, at the point of the bayonet. The Russians were thrown into disorder, and fled with the greatest precipitaion, leaving many dead behind them.

The cadets, not having lost a single man in all these skirmishes, arrived at the part of the city called the Nowy-Swiat, (or the New World,) and the Trzy Zlote Krzyze, (the Three Golden Crosses.) Here they found two companies of Polish light infantry, and with them the two Polish generals, Stanislaus Potocki and Trembicki, who were giving commands for restoring order by force, and for arresting the assembled inhabitants. The company of cadets arrived, and hailed the light infantry with the following words:—'Brothers! Are you here to shed the blood of your brethren? Have you forgotten the Russian tyranny? Come to our embrace, and hand to hand let us attack the tyrants. Poland forever!' This address was enough. They disobeyed the commands of their unworthy generals, and joined the cadets and the populace. When the two generals had the madness to reproach the soldiers, some of the cadets went to them and told them in a few words the state of affairs, and on their knees and with tears intreated them not to forsake the cause of their country. To Stanislaus Potocki the command of the army was offered. At the same time they were both warned of the fatal consequences of their refusal. It was of no avail. These infatuated men could not see the justice of the cause, and began to insult the students. Upon this the cadets left them, and they fell victims to the indignation of the populace.[10] In this place some gens d'armes who undertook to disperse the citizens, were killed. After the union with the two companies of light infantry, it was decided they should both march to the street of Szulec, on the left bank of the Vistula, endeavor there to assemble the citizens, and establish a degree of order, and after that to take possession of the bridge, for the purpose of maintaining the necessary communications between Praga and Warsaw during the night, and to defend it to the last against any attack of the enemy.

The cadets marched directly into the city through the Nowy-Swiat, singing patriotic songs and shouting 'Poland forever!' Every where the citizens answered their shouts with the greatest enthusiasm, and joined the ranks of those brave youths. Both old and young men, and even women, left their dwellings in order to increase the numbers of the liberators of their country. In their passage through that street this company made prisoners of many Russian generals, officers, &c., who were on their flight. After advancing as far as the palace of the Viceroy they met the Polish general Hauke, and colonel Mieciszewski. These worthless men, accompanied by some gens d'armes, were on their way to the Grand Duke in the Belvidere. Some cadets stepped in their way, and exhorted them to dismount and surrender themselves. Instead of answering, general Hauke drew a pistol and wounded one of them, which act cost him and his companion their lives.[11]

In the same manner general Siemiontkowski, with some gens d'armes and soldiers, endeavored to disperse and arrest the citizens assembled in the Saxon-platz. He likewise was a Russian instrument, and was hated by the nation.

Whilst this company of cadets was engaged in the south part of the city, the 4th regiment, a battalion of which had mounted guard, were active in another quarter. This regiment, as soon as the signals were given, revolted. The battalion on guard beat the alarm-drum at every guard-house, and the two other battalions formed for the attack of the Russian infantry in their barracks called the barracks of Sapieha. The shouts of the soldiers and citizens advancing to the attack mingled with the noise of the drums on every side. A great number of Russian general officers and spies were taken in their flight, in the street of the Little Theatre, and the street of Napoleon.

As soon as the numbers assembled would admit of it, divisions were detached to liberate the prisoners, especially those in the Franciscan and Carmelite prisons. These prisons, always guarded by Russian troops, were stormed. The Russian soldiers were driven in, and a massacre commenced in the corridors, where a great number of them fell by the bayonet, together with many police officers and turnkeys. The doors were broken down—and an indescribable scene took place, when the victims, already sentenced, perhaps, to death, or reserved for tortures, were set at liberty. With tears in their eyes, they fell into the arms of their deliverers. Here, a father found a son—there, a son a father. Many of the emaciated captives could only creep to meet the embraces of their brethren. But what was most shocking, was the appearance of four ladies who had been incarcerated for having resisted the brutal advances of certain Russian generals. They were reduced to mere skeletons. There was not one of the spectators who did not shudder and weep at the sight, and swear to avenge them. A hundred and seventy students, and from forty to fifty older persons, Polish soldiers and citizens, all innocent victims of the system of espionage, were rescued from these two prisons.

The above mentioned battalions of the 4th and the battalion of sappers marched to attack the Russian infantry in the barracks of Alexander and Stanislaus. On their arrival there, they found some companies under arms, and summoned them to surrender. Instead of complying, they began to fire, and our soldiers fell instantly upon them, with the 'hurrah.' They were dispersed in a moment, and many officers and soldiers were made prisoners. So panic struck were many of the officers of the Russian guard that they did not hesitate to creep head-foremost into the cellars, whence they were dragged out by the legs. The Russians fled from the barracks and the city in the utmost disorder, and took refuge beyond the Powonzki barrier.

After all these successes, the northern, eastern, and western parts of the city were occupied, at about noon, by divisions of patriot soldiers and citizens.

A small part of the south side of the city only was now in possession of the enemy's cavalry, who had at last left their barracks. A few houses opposite the Lottery Buildings were set on fire, as a signal for assembling. Strong patrols were sent to the western part of the city, and by them all the public treasures and the bank were secured. One of these parties, composed of sappers, met the Russian colonel, Sass,[12] in his flight. As he did not stop at their challenge, he was shot.

When the city had been nearly freed of the Russians, great multitudes hastened to the arsenal for arms and ammunition. Here they found the Polish general Blummer, who was rash enough to resist. He ordered his soldiers to fire on the people, but they refused to obey, and joined their brethren. This general was slain,—a just punishment for his murderous intentions. All the apartments were immediately opened, and more than 80,000 muskets, pistols, sabres, and carbines were obtained. They were distributed with admirable good order.

The people, being now armed, were arrayed in divisions, under different commanders, and sent to various parts of the city. Parties were appointed to patrol the streets and arrest all spies[13] and Russian officers who might attempt to fly. They arrested upwards of three hundred. One of these patrols went to the office of the secretary of spies, Macrot, to seize his person and papers. This man had hid himself in the cellar, with some of his satellites, and fired upon the patrol. The consequence was that Macrot and his people were massacred.

Toward two in the morning, the quiet of the city was restored. Most of the patriots assembled in the Ulica Dluga, (or Long Street,) to consult on the measures to be adopted on the following day, and the manner in which the nation should be addressed by the patriotic party. They called to memory the cruelties of the Russian government, and urged the necessity of a revolution to prevent the decay of all moral and national feeling. They implored the people to aid in this holy cause, yet at the same time besought them never to violate the dictates of humanity. 'Dear brethren,' they said, 'let no one have a right to accuse us of cruelty. May the sanctity of our cause never be polluted by barbarious passions. Having a single end in view, national freedom, and justice, may we prove lions in battle, mild and indulgent to defenceless foes, and repentant apostates. Brethren, let unity, love and friendship be ours! Let us forget private rancor and selfish interest; Children of one mother, our dear Poland—let us save her from ruin!'

These addresses were received by the people with the most fervent enthusiasm, and with cries of 'Poland forever!' They swore to fight for her while a drop flowed in their hearts, and never to forsake the field of valor or the path of virtue. The assembled multitude then knelt down before the Almighty, to thank him for a deliverance accomplished with so little bloodshed, and to implore a continuation of his mercies. It was a scene which no description can equal. In the depth of the night the immense crowds of people kneeling, their figures illuminated by the glare of the fires lighted in the streets, praying to God their deliverer, presented a sight to have touched even tyrants, could they have witnessed it.

When prayers were over, plans were adopted for the defence of the city. Some of the barriers were barricaded, and fortified with cannon. Officers were sent to Praga with detachments to reinforce the garrison at the bridge. Wagons were also sent to Praga for ammunition.

As the detachments approached the bridge, they perceived that their way was obstructed by a body of Russian cavalry. This cavalry were not aware of the presence of the two companies of light infantry who had been sent thither by the patriots. As the cavalry advanced upon the bridge the light infantry gave them a volley and charged. At the same time the detachments fell on from the Border Street, and compelled them to retire with severe loss. Some companies formed by the populace, had already taken possession of Praga, and all was quiet. Many wagon loads of cartridges, balls, and barrels of powder, were taken from the magazine to Warsaw before morning.

These are the details of the first night of our revolution. The order which prevailed in all these tumults and during the fight, was truly admirable. The foreigners then in Warsaw declared that they could not enough praise the behavior of the troops and populace in the very height of a revolution. The utmost forbearance was evinced toward persons and property. No individual was slain or abused without provocation, nor was any house or store entered without the consent of the owner. From the open windows of many houses even ladies witnessed our deeds, and waved their handkerchiefs, without fear of danger or insult. They were quiet and delighted spectators of the crowds, who, after expelling the Russians, moved through the streets in perfect order, shouting songs of joy. These were moments in which the heart of every good patriot rejoiced, and traitors alone hid their heads.

FOOTNOTES:

[8] The enemies of our country have endeavored to persuade the world that this party was sent to take the Grand Duke's life. It is an infamous calumny. The order to seize the Grand Duke, was given with the noblest intention;—to secure him from the dangers attendant on a revolution, and to prevent farther bloodshed by his captivity. The Poles magnanimously intended to requite his long continued cruelty with the kindest treatment. He would have been placed in safety, and supplied with all the comforts of life in the palace of Bruhl, which was expressly named for the place of his abode. The persons sent to seize him were selected for their habitual moderation and self-restraint. By his flight, Constantine accused himself. The just man fears nothing; the guilty conscience anticipates danger. The Grand Duke injured himself as well as our cause by his flight. His melancholy end is well known.

[9] Gendre was one of the Russian generals, who was among the chief spies. He was dismissed by the deceased emperor, Alexander, on account of impositions and even accusations of theft, nor was he allowed to show himself in Petersburgh during the life-time of Alexander. He arrived, in 1829, in Warsaw, when it was the pleasure of Constantine to associate and surround himself with the outcasts of society; and he made him his master of horse, and afterwards general and aid-de-camp. The swindling of this general and his wife, in Warsaw, surpassed all imagination. They cheated and robbed the noblemen, the merchants, the Jews, and their own master, the Grand Duke. According to the accounts found during the revolution, their debts, in gaming and otherwise, amounted to more than a million of Polish gilders.

[10] Every Pole lamented the melancholy fate of Stanislaus Potocki. He was one of the most honest of men, and beloved by the army and the whole nation. He always kept aloof from all familiar intercourse with the Russians, and his house was a true Polish dwelling. He had always scorned Russian protection; and, to every patriot, the end of this man, who had become gray in the service of his country, is a sad recollection. Yet every one must confess his death was just, and cannot be a reproach to his countrymen, since he listened neither to the advice nor the intreaties of his brethren, and thus publicly avowed his adherence to the cause of despotism.—As to General Trembizki, he had always been a creature of the Russians, and a proud and mischievous man.

[11] The early part of the career of general Hauke was not without merit, but it was tarnished by his later conduct. He was born in Germany, and came to Poland, under the reign of Stanislaus, as a poor mechanic. After leaving his trade he was enrolled in the army, and advanced rapidly in the revolutionary war under Kosciusko, in which he distinguished himself by military skill. In the wars under Napoleon he defended the fortress of Zamosc with great valor. But, from the beginning of the Russian sway and the arrival of the Grand Duke at Warsaw, this man became one of his chief minions, and by fawning and intrigue obtained the post of Minister of War. In the same year he was raised to the nobility, and was made count, senator, and wayewode. In the whole history of Poland the rapidity of this advancement is unexampled. Hauke received these dignities as a reward for his oppression of his inferiors, and for acts of injustice of every kind. As for Mieciszewski, he had always been a villain.

[12] This bad man was one of the principal instruments of our oppressors. He was one of the chiefs of the spies, and his particular business was to observe all foreigners coming to Warsaw. He invited them to his house to ascertain their characters, and was assisted at his soirees in his base designs, by the female spies. Under the show of the utmost cordiality, by presents, and by means of love affairs, he was wont to endeavor to draw them to the Russian interest, in order to use them as spies in their own countries. He often succeeded, and several foreigners might be named, who came to Warsaw on the most innocent business or to gratify their curiosity, but who, after having frequented the parties of Sass, and handled Russian gold, returned to their own country to betray it. Such are the means by which Russia steals deeper and deeper into the heart of Europe.

[13] The chief of spies, general Rozniecki, escaped. He was one of the most vicious characters imaginable: his crimes surpass expression. He was the oldest general in the Polish army, in which he had served forty years. He entered the service under king Stanislaus. Under Napoleon he commanded a brigade, and subsequently a division of cavalry. Of his character, while in the service of Napoleon, not much is known. Under the government of Russia, this man, already sixty years old, degraded himself irredeemably by becoming one of the most atrocious and detestable tools of tyranny. A volume might be filled with the history of his intrigues, swindlings, and other crimes. As chief of the secret police, he had under him many agents whom he sent throughout the land to extort money for him on unjust pretences. Wo to the unhappy man who refused compliance with any of his demands! He was sure to find his fate in a prison. In the army, those who bribed him were promoted. Rozniecki was the intimate friend of the Grand Duke. The following anecdote may serve to give the reader some idea of his consummate art in fraud.

It was a part of Rozniecki's business to pay the spies, and they received their salaries at his house. He divided the delators into several classes, and rewarded them according to the quickness and importance of their information. By his arrangement of this business he cheated the very spies! In the room where he received their denunciations he had a chest of drawers placed, behind which a clerk was concealed. This clerk wrote down their reports as he heard them, taking care to date them somewhat earlier. When the spy had ended his story and applied for his reward, Rozniecki would declare that he recollected having heard the whole affair the day before. He would then leave the room and return with the forged record. Thus would he defraud the spy of his shameful earnings. Accounts of immense sums received by him were found in his house during the revolution. He was more than once accused of murder by poison, and other enormous crimes, but the proceedings against him were suppressed. On the first evening of the revolution this man happened to be in an assembly of spies in the City Hall. He was there to give his instructions. On hearing the tumult, his conscience smote him, and he stole away without saying a word. Finding a coach at hand, he offered the coachman money to permit him to drive himself whither he pleased. He made his escape in the coachman's cloak. His effigy was exhibited on the gallows seven days, decorated with a dozen Russian orders.

[CHAPTER III.]

The First Day.—Expulsion of the Russians from Warsaw.—Choice of Chlopicki as Commander in Chief.—Provisional Government under the Presidency of Prince Adam Czartoriski.—Deputation sent to the Grand Duke.—Propositions and answer.—Abolition of the Bureau of Police.—Establishment of the National Guard.—Proclamations addressed to the inhabitants of the provinces and the distant troops.—Provision for the Russian prisoners.—The Academical Legions formed.—Arrival of detachments from the provinces.—The Grand Duke consents to leave the kingdom, and addresses a proclamation to the Poles.

The first day of freedom, after so many years of oppression, was hailed with shouts of 'Our country! Poland forever!' At about six in the morning the drums beat for the assembly of the troops in all the parts of the city in our possession. Crowds flocked from all sides to the public places. It was a scene never equalled. The whole people assembled, without distinction of rank, age, or sex. Old men who were past the use of swords, brandished their sticks and crutches, and recalled the times of Kosciusko. Clergymen, civil officers, foreigners, Jews, even women and children armed with pistols, mingled in the ranks.

The multitude, thus assembled, marched to the northern and southern parts of the city, to drive the Russians out. The fourth regiment and a body of the inhabitants marched into the northern quarter of Warsaw, to attack two regiments of infantry who occupied the Champ de Mars and the whole district thence to the barrier of Powazko. This division had with them two small pieces of cannon. As soon as they reached the point of attack they fired a few rounds, raised the 'hurrah,' and threw themselves upon the Russians, who made no resistance, but fled in disorder beyond the barrier above mentioned, where the pursuit ceased.

In the mean while, the battalion of sappers had marched through the suburb of Cracow and the street of Wirzbwa to the southern part of the city. They met the enemy's cavalry, at the Place of Saxony, a short distance from the Church of the Cross. The Russians discharged their carbines, and a brisk fire was kept up until the cry to cease firing and attack with the bayonet was heard on all sides. They gave way before the charge, and fled in the greatest confusion, as the infantry had done before them. They were pursued beyond the barriers of Mokotow. The whole city was cleared of the Russians before nine o'clock. The walls opposite the Russian troops were manned by soldiers and armed citizens.

While this expulsion was being effected, some of the patriots were employed in the city in choosing a military chief. They agreed to offer the command to Chlopicki.[14]

Towards eleven, General Chlopicki was led by the people, with acclamations, to the hotel of the Minister of Finance, where many senators and other persons were assembled to take measures respecting a provisional government, the security of public order, &c. Chlopicki was received with acclamations by the chiefs of the nation; and after all had declared their consent, he was proclaimed Commander in Chief. He was addressed on this occasion by Professor Lelewell, one of the patriots, who, after drawing the picture of our past sufferings, and comparing it with our hopes of the future, concluded with the following words, addressed directly to Chlopicki. 'Brother—take the sword of your ancestors and predecessors, Czarnecki, Dombrowski, and Kosciusko. Guide the nation that has placed its trust in you, in the way of honor. Save this unhappy country.' This ceremony concluded, Chlopicki was shown to the assembled people from the balcony. They received him with shouts of 'Our country and our liberator Chlopicki forever!' Many cried, 'Chlopicki, rely on us, and lead us to Lithuania!' The general thanked them for their confidence in him, promised never to abuse it, and swore that he would defend the liberty of Poland to the last moment.

The patriots now proceeded to choose members of the provisional government. Prince Adam Czartoriski,[15] Radzivil,[16] Niemcewicz, and Lelewell were elected, and one of the old ministers, Lubecki, was retained to assist them. This arrangement was made public about noon, in order to tranquilize the people.

The first step taken by the new government was to send deputies to the Grand Duke. They were instructed to demand whether he meant to depart peaceably, or to attack the city. Among the deputies were Lubecki and Lelewell. They found the Grand Duke encamped, with his army, in the fields of Mokotow.

The deputies represented to Constantine the consequences that would result from an attack on the city, as well in regard to himself as to the nation. They informed him that the army had already joined the people, and proposed to him that he should depart unmolested, on a prescribed route. They promised that he should find every possible accommodation provided on that route, for himself and his troops. The Grand Duke demanded some time for reflection, and finally gave the deputies the following answer in writing.

Art. I. The Grand Duke declares that it was never his intention to attack Warsaw. In case he should find himself under the necessity of so doing, he will give the authorities notice of his intention forty-eight hours before the attack.

Art. II. The Grand Duke will entreat the Emperor to grant an amnesty for the past.

Art. III. The Grand Duke declares that he has sent no orders to the Russian forces in Lithuania to pass the frontier of the kingdom.

Art. IV. Prisoners will be exchanged.

The deputies returned to Warsaw with this answer, at three o'clock. It was immediately published, but did not satisfy the people. They demanded to know the day and hour of the Grand Duke's departure. If he should refuse to obey, they declared that they would attack him. It was finally concluded to allow him two days for his necessary arrangements, and then to send a second deputation to insist on his instant departure.[17]

The provisional government immediately set about restoring order to every department of the administration. The Bureau of Police was abolished, and a council of citizens was substituted in its place, under the direction of the aged and worthy Wengrzecki. This man had been president of Warsaw in the times of the grand duchy. He was compelled to leave this office, by certain persecutions, which he brought upon himself by not being sufficiently in the spirit of the Russian government. At the same time the national guard was established, and placed under the command of Count Lubinski. The guard began their service on the very same day. They mounted guard at the bank and the public treasury, and their patrols maintained order in all parts of the city. Their duties were performed with the utmost punctuality. All the shops were opened, and the city wore as peaceful an aspect as if there had been no army before it.

At the same time the provisional government sent proclamations into all the provinces, to inform the nation of these events. They began with the following beautifully figurative expression: 'Poles! The eagle of Poland has broken his chains, and will soon have burst through the clouds into those purer regions in which nothing shall shut from him the light of the sun.' The military government issued proclamations to the troops at all the distant stations, ordering them to repair forthwith to Warsaw. The divisions of chasseurs received orders in case of an attack from the Grand Duke, to fall on his rear and cut off his retreat. The city itself was put in a better state of defence; the barriers were fortified, and guarded by strong detachments; all was prepared for an attack. The government made proper provision for the care of the Russian prisoners, of whatever rank, as well as of the ladies of the Russian civil and military officers who had left Warsaw. The royal palace was assigned for the residence of the officers and ladies; the privates were lodged in barracks. At a later period they were permitted to go about the streets and earn money by their labor, in addition to their usual allowance. The Russians were so touched by this generous treatment, that they swore, with tears, never to forget it.

These details of the first day of our revolution, for the correctness of which I pledge myself, may serve to answer the accusations of some journalists, who have stated that the commencement of the national struggle was marked with the greatest atrocities, and that more than forty field officers, many subalterns, and large parties of privates were butchered for declining to engage in the cause. These impeachments of the Polish nation are unjust and false. As has been said before, the foreigners in Warsaw could not sufficiently praise the admirable order with which our first movements were conducted. Our enemies accuse the people of having robbed the public treasuries.—I affirm that not a gilder was lost—neither public nor private property was pillaged.

As the enemy was still encamped before the city on the first and second of December, and had as yet given no decisive answer respecting the time of his departure, the people, as well as the army, were still under arms and upon the walls. At this time the twelve companies of students, called the Academical Legions, were organized. It was heart-stirring to see these noble youths assembled in arms to defend their country. Many of them had just been rescued from prison, and could not walk without difficulty. This did not damp their ardor; the hope of fighting successfully for the liberty of Poland renewed their strength. The Academical Legions requested to be sent to the posts nighest the enemy. These two days passed in entire quietness.

In the afternoon of the second of December, general Schenbek arrived from Plock with the first regiment of chasseurs. At the same time came colonel Sierawski from Serock, with his regiment. Both were received with great enthusiasm. New detachments from the provinces marched into Warsaw every day. A truly affecting sight it was to see more than a thousand peasants, and about fifty peasant girls from the country about Warsaw, marching into the city with clubs, scythes, and weapons of every description. They were escorted by the shouting populace to the Bank, and there welcomed by the national government. At the request of the people, another deputation was this day sent to the Grand Duke, to urge his departure, and to inform him that an attack would be the necessary consequence of his refusal. The Grand Duke saw the necessity of compliance, and decided to commence his march on the following day, by the prescribed route of Pulawa. He issued a proclamation to the Polish nation, wherein he promised never to fight against those, 'whom,' to use his own expression, 'he had always loved.' He adduced his marriage with a young Polish lady as a proof of his affection for the nation. At the same time he promised to entreat the emperor to grant an amnesty, and to take, in general, the mildest measures. He begged the Poles to deal gently with the Russian prisoners, their families, the ladies, and in short with all Russian subjects remaining in Warsaw.[18]

FOOTNOTES:

[14] General Chlopicki, a man of rare merit, began his career in the struggle for liberty under Kosciusko. In 1807, he was colonel commandant of the first regiment of the legion of the Vistula, under Napoleon. He had the command of a brigade, and afterwards of a division, of the same legion in Spain. This general distinguished himself at the storming of Saragossa, where the Poles performed prodigies of valor, as well as at the battle of Saginta. Under the Russian government of Constantine, Chlopicki left the army, not being able to endure his commander's brutal deportment. The Grand Duke censured the general on parade, in an unbecoming manner, saying that his division was not in order. Chlopicki replied, 'I did not gain my rank on the parade ground, nor did I receive my decorations there.' He asked his discharge the next day. In later times the emperor Alexander and the Grand Duke himself endeavored to induce him to return to the service, but Chlopicki never consented. He preferred a retired life to the splendor of Russian slavery. This gained him the esteem of the whole nation.

[15] Prince Adam Czartoriski was born on the 14th of June, 1770. He is the oldest son of Prince Casimir Czartoriski, Palatine of Russia, and Princess Elizabeth Fleming, daughter of Count George Fleming, first treasurer of Lithuania and Palatine of Pomerania. The Czartoriski family are descended from the Gedamines, who reigned over Lithuania in the thirteenth century, a descendant of whom, Jagelon, reigned long and gloriously in Poland. At the last partition of Poland, Adam Czartoriski and his brother Constantine were sent to St Petersburgh as hostages. While residing in the Russian capital, Prince Adam was on terms of friendly intimacy with the Grand Duke Alexander. This friendship influenced, perhaps, his political career. He was sent as an ambassador to the court of Sardinia, and when Alexander ascended the throne, he was recalled, and entrusted with the portfolio of foreign affairs. He declined this charge for a long time, and at last accepted it at the earnest entreaty of Alexander, on condition that he should be allowed to retire as soon as the discharge of his official duties should militate against the interests of his country. At the same time, he was appointed Curator of the university of Wilna, and yet another important duty devolved on him, which was the establishment of schools in all the Russian provinces of Poland. Though the Russians cannot see a Pole in so honorable a station without jealousy, the conduct of Prince Adam was so noble as to win the hearts of all. He did not surround himself with parasites; his course was plain and upright, and he scorned the idea of receiving rewards from government. He would not even accept a salary.

In 1808, Czartoriski resigned his ministerial office, but retained his place over the university, hoping to do more good in it. He increased the number of elementary schools and those of all classes of instruction. He reformed the antiquated institutions of the university, and gave the whole course of instruction a more simple and convenient form, which was also better adapted to the wants of the middle classes of the people. By these means he hoped to develope and elevate the national character, in these classes.

The events of 1812 showed but too plainly that the misfortunes which then befell France was owing to the same cause to which the previous distress of Russia was attributable; viz. the non-existence of Poland. If Poland had remained independent in her original extent, the two gigantic powers could not have come in contact, and the equilibrium of Europe, now entirely lost, would have been preserved. It was, then, a true and necessary policy to bring forward the question of the independence of Poland again. This was the object Prince Adam Czartoriski kept in view during the war between France and Russia, and it was in the hope of effecting it that he accompanied Alexander to Paris in 1814. He was not anxious without reason. The Emperor Alexander satisfied him, in part, and proposed to the Congress of Vienna to erect the grand duchy of Poland into a Kingdom. This kingdom received a constitution and several other national institutions. An entire freedom of trade with the remaining Polish provinces under Russia, Austria, and Prussia, was assured to it. All these promises were published and confirmed by Alexander at Warsaw in 1816. Yet, in the very act of confirmation, several privileges which the Emperor had promised to Czartoriski were retracted; and this was owing to the influence of the other powers, and the principles of the Holy Alliance. Russian policy made these restrictions more and more sensibly felt, and unfortunate Poland beheld, one after another, the institutions so solemnly guarantied to her, vanishing away.

Indignant at these breaches of promise on the part of Russia, Prince Czartoriski resigned the Curatorship of the university of Wilna, in 1824, in which he had been the means of effecting much good, particularly in the cause of patriotism and liberty; and in order to free himself from all connection with the intriguing cabinet of Russia, he went, with his whole family, on a journey to foreign countries.

This prince was proprietor of the beautiful town of Pulawa, which Nature and Art have united to make one of the finest in Europe. The reader will, perhaps, be pleased with a short description of this place, which no traveller in the north of Europe will fail to visit. The little town of Pulawa is situated about eighteen leagues south of Warsaw, on the main road to Lemberg in Gallicia, on the right bank of the Vistula. The windings of this noble stream are so happily turned as to present a prospect of both its sides, till it reaches the horizon. The breadth of the river near this town is nearly three English miles. Its shores are broken into little hills covered with wood, in the intervals of which fine villages meet the eye, and in the distance are seen the picturesque ruins of Casimir. The town of Pulawa itself is situated on the declivity of a high bank, which declines toward the river in the form of an amphitheatre. This declivity is laid out as a garden in the purest taste, terminating, toward the river, in extensive meadows, planted with groves of oaks and poplars, and enlivened by herds of Tyrolese cattle, cottages, shepherds' cabins, &c., in various styles of building. This garden surrounds Pulawa, and is itself surrounded by great parks, which extend several leagues beyond it in every direction. These are intersected by beautiful avenues of linden trees. Among the many works in marble, statues, obelisks, &c., the temple of Sibylla, with its magnificent statue of alabaster, is distinguished, as is also the statue of a nymph in one of the grottos, a masterpiece of sculpture. The palace, consisting of a main building with two wings, is a noble piece of architecture. Its apartments are rich and splendid. Prince Czartoriski has the largest library in Poland, and the greatest private library in Europe, which is open to the public.

Czartoriski happened to be in Pulawa when the revolution broke out. Summoned to the helm of the state by the nation, he hastened to devote his exertions to his country. Laudable as his previous career had been, it was excelled by his conduct during the struggle, in which he represented the beau ideal of virtue and patriotism. Through all the stormy changes of popular opinion he continued firm and unwavering, having but one view, one aim, the good of his country. He carried to the chief magistrate's seat the same calmness, the same mildness which had characterised his private life. He was never actuated by passion. He considered all Poles as brethren. Though in the sixtieth year of his age, he did not shrink from the fatigues of war, but constantly accompanied Skrzynecki, to whom he was much attached, in his marches, and was at his side in many battles. His whole character was essentially noble.

[16] Prince Michael Radzivil was born in Lithuania, on his family estate called Nieswiez. He is nephew of Prince Anthony Radzivil, governor-general of the grand duchy of Posen, and brother-in-law of the king of Prussia. This prince was commander of a brigade in the time of Napoleon, and distinguished himself at the siege of Dantzic. He retired from service under the Russian government, and lived privately in Warsaw. He was a man of quiet character, and a sincere patriot, but not of eminent military talents.

[17] The Grand Duke's army at Mokatow, consisted of the following regiments.

Of Polish soldiers, he had six companies of grenadiers of the foot guard, and one regiment of chasseurs of the guard. These regiments, however, returned to Warsaw and joined the nation on the second of December. The true cause of the Grand Duke's demand for time was, that he hoped to exert a secret influence on those of the Polish troops who had not yet joined the people. This fact was confirmed by two captured spies, one of whom he had despatched to the light-horse in Lowicz, and the other to the division of hussars of Siedlec. The letters they carried to the commanders of these forces urged them, with promises of great rewards, to join the Grand Duke.

[18] These proclamations, which were immediately published in the Warsaw papers, contain clear proof that the Grand Duke had no injuries on the part of the Polish nation to complain of, and that he himself felt that the Poles were constrained to revolt.

[CHAPTER IV.]

The Patriotic Club commences its sessions.—Character of that association.—The Grand Duke departs for the frontier.—Particulars of his march.—The Polish regiments which had remained with him return to Moscow.—Their reception.—Krazynski and Kornatowski.—Deputation to St Petersburgh.—Demands to be laid before the Emperor.—Sierawski made Governor of Warsaw, and Wasowiez chief of the staff.—Order respecting the army.—Arrival of volunteers from the interior.—Opening of the theatre.—Religious solemnities at Praga.—Chlopicki nominated and proclaimed Dictator.

On the third of December the Patriotic Club began its session, under the guidance of very worthy persons. The object of this society was, to watch over all the departments of the administration, to see that the measures adopted were congenial with the wishes of the people, and in the spirit of the revolution; and to promote fraternity and union throughout the nation. They desired to repress all manifestations of selfishness or ambition, to discover and bring before the people the persons best qualified for public offices, and, in short, to promote the best interests of the nation with unwearied zeal. If this club was, at times, led by the fervor of patriotic feeling to adopt measures considered rigorous by many, their acts were never inconsistent with the love of country, or their own views of the national honor. At this time, a committee was also appointed for the trial of the spies.

On the morning of the third of December, the Grand Duke commenced his march towards Pulawa, according to agreement,[19] and the Polish regiments which had remained with Constantine up to this time, now returned to Warsaw. These troops were at first regarded by the people with feelings of indignation. Such feelings were, however, soon dissipated by the explanations which were given. They had been misled by their generals, Krasynski and Kornatowski. As to general Zimyrski, who commanded the grenadiers, he was entirely blameless. He had intended to join the patriots at first, but was detained as a prisoner by the Russians. The other two generals persuaded their men that the revolutionary movements were only disturbances of the mob, excited by the students, and would quickly come to an end. They ought not, they told them, to forsake their legitimate government and the Grand Duke. It was impossible afterwards for these regiments to learn the truth, as they were closely surrounded by the Russians, and cut off from all communication with others.

Early on the third of December, when the Grand Duke had resolved to depart, he visited these troops in person, and declared before them that he left Warsaw only to avoid useless bloodshed, and that order would soon be restored. He requested them to go with him, as they were regiments of guards, in whom the emperor had peculiar confidence. 'Soldiers,' he said, 'will you go with us; or stay and unite with those who have proved faithless to their sovereign?' With one voice the whole corps exclaimed, 'We will remain—we will join our brethren and fight for the liberty of our country. We are sorry that we could not do so from the beginning, but we were deceived.'

The people who had assembled to gaze at these unfortunate men, with unfavorable and unjust feelings toward them, were disarmed of their resentment at the very sight of them, and rushed into their embraces. They were surrounded by the multitude, and taken, with joyful acclamations, to the Place of the Bank. But though the people forgave the soldiers, their indignation remained unabated against their generals, and the greatest efforts of the leading patriots were required to save Krasynski and Kornatowski from their rage. It was dreadful to behold these generals riding with downcast looks, not daring to look on those whom they had intended to betray. Death would certainly have been preferable to thus meeting the curses of a justly incensed people. Mothers held up their children, and, pointing at the two generals, exclaimed, 'See the traitors!' Arriving at the Bank, the people demanded that Krasynski and Kornatowski should give their reasons for having acted as they had done; and as the wretched men could say nothing in their own defence, a general cry arose of 'Death to the traitors!' Nothing but the love of the people for Chlopicki and Schembeck, who interceded, could have hindered them from carrying their wishes into immediate execution. Several excited individuals made their way toward the culprits with pistols in their hands, and, after aiming at them, fired their weapons into the air, crying, 'You are unworthy of a shot from a Polish hand. Live—to be everlastingly tortured by your consciences!' The unfortunate men entreated that they might be permitted to serve in the ranks, as privates. They were immediately deprived of their commissions, and from that time they lived in retirement during the war.[20]

The people were this day informed that prince Adam Czartoriski had been nominated president of the national government; that the eighteenth of December was appointed for the opening of the Diet; that till that day the rights of the Emperor Nicholas would be acknowledged; and that Lubecki, Osvowski, and Jezierski would be sent to St Petersburgh, as a deputation, to inform the emperor of all that had happened. They were also to lay before him the following demands:

1st. That all Russian troops should be withdrawn from the kingdom forever, that a perpetual conflict between the two nations might be avoided.

2d. That the privileges of the constitution should be again confirmed in their fullest extent.

3d. That all the ancient Polish provinces incorporated with Russia should partake in the privileges of the constitution, as Alexander had promised.

The deputies were also instructed to entreat the emperor to come to Warsaw and open the Diet, in order to satisfy himself respecting the actual state of affairs.

The deputies left Warsaw that very evening.

The commander in chief appointed general Sierawski governor of the city of Warsaw, and colonel count Wonsowicz chief of the staff. These officers were both beloved by the people, and proved themselves able and zealous defenders of their country through the whole campaign. The commander in chief also published an order, that the army should consist of 200,000 men. Each wayewodeship (principality) was to furnish 9,000 infantry and 11,000 horse. There are eight wayewodeships in Poland. The army already existing, the volunteer forces, and the regiments raised and equipped by some of the noblemen, were not reckoned in this estimate, nor did it include the volunteers which were to be expected from the Polish provinces under other foreign governments.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth of December were remarkable days in the history of our revolution. Soldiers and peasants flocked in from all sides—from all quarters of the country. In a short time, more than five thousand peasants, armed with scythes, axes, and other weapons, were counted. Among them were more than two hundred peasant girls, with sickles. These were days of real joy, when all united in the defence of Poland, without distinction of rank, age, or even sex—when rich and poor, nobles and peasants, met, as friends escaped from common sufferings, and embraced. Tables were spread with refreshments for those who arrived, in the streets. The fourth was remarkable for the opening of the theatre.[21] Religious solemnities took place in Praga on the fifth, and on the sixth a Dictator was nominated.[22]

When, on the sixth of December, the national government notified Chlopicki of his nomination as generalissimo, he replied, that they had no power to place him in that station; that in such critical times the civil and military power ought to be vested in one person, and that he felt himself entitled, by his long services, to nominate himself Dictator. His powers, he said, he would lay down on the assemblage of the Diet. In the afternoon of the next day he was proclaimed Dictator in the Champ de Mars, amidst the acclamations of an immense multitude. After this, he took a public oath to act in accordance with the spirit of the people, and to defend the rights and privileges of Poland.

FOOTNOTES:

[19] The details of the Grand Duke's march may not be uninteresting to the reader, and at the same time they will serve to refute the false report that he was pursued by the Poles.

Early in the morning of the third of December, the Grand Duke left his camp at Mokotow, and marched on the route of Kosienice and Pulawa. Agents had been sent in advance in this direction, to procure for him every convenience, which he found uniformly prepared. In a village between Kosienice and Graniza, where he halted with his troops, he met intendant general Wolicki, who was on his way from Lublin to Warsaw. Wolicki waited on the Grand Duke, in the hope that he might render him some service. Constantine had quartered himself in the house of the curate of the village, and received the intendant general in the parlor, where the Grand Duchess Lowicz was present. Wolicki requested his orders with regard to the accommodation of the troops. Constantine coldly thanked him, and immediately began to complain of the Poles; in which he was joined by his lady. He reproached the nation with the benefits he had conferred on them, and seizing Wolicki violently by the hand, added, 'And for all this they wanted to assassinate me!' When Wolicki, in the most delicate manner, represented that his residence had been entered with the best intentions toward his person, the Grand Duke, with yet greater exasperation and fury, exclaimed, 'They have chased me out of the country—but I shall soon return.' In his rage he again seized Wolicki's hand, saying, 'You shall stay with me, as a hostage for my generals retained in Warsaw.' Notwithstanding the expostulations of Wolicki, he was arrested and detained. He however was not long a prisoner, for he soon found means to regain his liberty. The Grand Duke passed that night at the village of Graniza, some of the inhabitants of which Wolicki knew. He found opportunity to speak with one of them in the night, told him what had befallen, and desired him to raise a false alarm, as if the Poles were at hand. It was done. The citizens began to shout in the streets, and Wolicki, profiting by the fright and disorder of the Russians, escaped.

He arrived at Warsaw on the following day, and related his adventure, which was published as an illustration of the Grand Duke's perfidy and inconsistency. This conduct, together with his threats, would have justified the Poles in pursuing and taking him, with his whole army, prisoners. But the nation generously suffered this opportunity for revenge to pass by, and adhered to the promise of a free passage.

On his arrival in Pulawa, Constantine was received by the princess Czartoriska in the most friendly manner, as he also was in Lubartow by the princess Lubomirska. In the latter place, general Rosniecki, who accompanied the Grand Duke, demanded an apartment in a pavilion adjoining the palace, which was designed for the suite of Constantine. The princess answered, in the presence of the Grand Duke, 'There is no room for traitors to their country in my house.'

On the way to Lenczna, the Russian army met a division of Polish lancers, marching to Siedlec. They halted in order to go through the ceremony of saluting. The Grand Duke, with his suite, approached them with an air of perfect friendship, shook hands with several, and endeavored to persuade them to return with him. 'Hulans,' said he, 'do not forget your duty to your monarch, but set your comrades a good example.' He then offered them money and other rewards. Indignant at his proposals, the lancers replied, 'Prince, we thank you for the money and promises you offer us, but there is no command more sacred in our eyes than the call of our country; no greater reward than the privilege of fighting in her cause!' With this, they wheeled, and continued their march past the Russian troops, singing patriotic songs.

The Grand Duke passed the frontier with his forces on the thirteenth of December, and crossing the Wadowa, entered Volhynia, an ancient Polish province, now incorporated with Russia.

I cannot forbear to record the noble conduct of colonel Turno, a Pole, and aid-de-camp to the Grand Duke. This officer had been fourteen years with Constantine, and was one of the few honest men in his suite. His long endurance of his chief's follies and rudeness could have had no other motive than the hope of doing good to others, and preventing mischief. Constantine loved him, valued him highly, and was firmly convinced that Turno would remain with him. What was his surprise, when, at the frontier, Turno rode up to take his leave! At first, he was unable to answer. After some time he said, with an expression of heartfelt grief, 'Turno, and will you leave me—you, upon whom I had placed my greatest hopes—whom I loved so much—who have been with me so long?' Turno answered, with dignity, 'Your Highness may be assured that I am sorry to part with you. I have certainly always been your friend, and I am so still. I should never leave you in another cause—no, not in the greatest distress: on the contrary I should be happy to share every misfortune with you. But, your Highness, other circumstances and duties call me now—the highest and weightiest duty—the duty a man owes to his country. Your Highness, I have done all that honor and duty commanded as your aid-de-camp—I have accompanied you to the frontier, that I might be your guide as long as you should remain on Polish ground, and preserve you from every possible danger. Now you need me no longer. You are in your own country, and my duty as your aid-de-camp being at an end, it is now my sacred duty as a Pole to return at the summons of my country.'

The Grand Duke marched with his corps towards Bialystok, where he remained till the beginning of the campaign. In the war, he was not ashamed to accept the command of a corps of the army, and to fight against those who had treated him so generously, his promises to the contrary notwithstanding.

[20] These Polish regiments and generals are, doubtless, the same who were reported by the Berlin State Gazette to have been butchered. So far from that, the nation received them kindly, and forgave them. Prussians! you know little of the Poles, or of their feelings. The time may come when we shall know one another better.

[21] This was the first time the theatre was opened during the revolution. A patriotic piece was performed, viz. 'The Krakovians and Guralians,' or 'The Union of the two Tribes.' This play had been prohibited before. As early as six, P.M. the theatre was crowded. No distinction was observed in regard to places. Before the play began, one of the patriots addressed the audience with a speech, in which he called to memory all the outrages by which the revolution had been rendered necessary, and informed them what measures the National Assembly had taken to insure the success of the good cause. 'Poles! Brethren!' he said, 'we have sent deputies to the Emperor, to represent our sufferings for fifteen years—our oppressions—which drew neither attention nor relief from Russia, while our rights were trampled upon, and our innocent brethren tortured. Perhaps the Emperor, surrounded by bad men, has been kept in ignorance of our wrongs, and will be astonished to hear of all this injustice from the mouths of our deputies. Perhaps he will take measures to redress all these villanies without delay. If the grace of God has granted him to reign over Poland, he may follow the steps of our good kings of old; of whom no one ever tarnished the throne with tyranny. As for us, brethren, let us forget past dissensions, and unitedly and patiently strive with one accord for the redemption of our country.' After this speech, which was joyfully received, the orchestra played Kosciusko's march, which had not been heard for fifteen years. At first, the music was drowned in the shouts of the audience—'Hail, our country—our father Kosciusko! France, and Lafayette the friend of Kosciusko, forever!' After this, the Marseilles hymn was played, and then the Mazur of Dombrowski. The play was full of patriotic songs, and the audience joined their voices to those of the actors. But when, at the end of the play, three standards, with the armorial bearings of the ancient provinces of Poland, were brought in, and were folded into one in the embraces of the actors who represented the three chief tribes, the exultation of the audience surpassed all bounds. One of the favorite actors addressed the spectators in these words—'The monster tyranny, terrified by the sudden light of liberty, which he could not endure, has left the den from which he has hitherto spread death and affright. Oh that, scared by this light, he may be driven farther and farther, nor be suffered to rest on any of the fields of Poland. May he retire to the dark, icy regions of the north, whence he came, and God grant that he may never return to us.'

After this, those of the patriots who had been most actively distinguished on the first night of the revolution and after, and those who had suffered in dungeons for their love of country, were presented to the assemblage. They were received with infinite joy, and carried about on the shoulders of the people with shouts. Many ladies were then brought forward, who had followed the patriots in arms on the first night, or had sacrificed their wealth on the altar of patriotism. At first sight, these beautiful and noble beings might have been taken for angels sent down for the redemption of unhappy Poland.

These scenes surpass description—they can only be felt by hearts truly free. These were moments to unite the whole nation. Persons who had shunned each other for years, each fearing a spy in the other, explained themselves and embraced. These scenes will live eternally in the memory of every Pole. Beholding his countrymen in this ecstasy of joy, there was none who did not weep—none who did not feel ready to die on the morrow, having seen them thus happy. The prisoner condemned to death, when unexpectedly rescued, and permitted to breathe the free air, laughs, weeps, endeavors to express his gratitude, and cannot. Such was the feeling of Poland in these blessed moments.

[22] On Sunday, the fifth of December, prayers were offered up in all the churches of Warsaw by the people from the provinces as well as the inhabitants. The blessing of the Most High was implored on our arms. Of all the religious solemnities, those of Praga were the most edifying and affecting. A mass was said in the open air, at an altar erected on the spot where the victims of Suwarrow had been buried. This altar was surrounded by more than 50,000 men, who sent up one voice to God. The twelve academical legions formed the innermost circle, among whom those who had been imprisoned for assisting on a similar occasion were conspicuous. In the intervals of divine service, and after its termination, several speeches were delivered, one of which was by one of the liberated prisoners. Recalling the cruelties perpetrated by Suwarrow, as well as those which we had lately suffered, he observed, 'Brethren, we were lately forbidden—nay, it was accounted a crime, to pray for our unfortunate murdered ancestors. To-day, under this free vault of heaven, on the grave of our fathers, on the soil moistened with their sacred blood, which cries to us for retribution, in the presence of their spirits hovering over us, we swear never to lay down our arms till we shall have avenged, or fallen like them.' The assembled multitude then sung a patriotic hymn.

The sixth of December was remarkable for the nomination of Chlopicki to the dictatorship;—the union of the supreme civil and military powers in his person. The authority of the provisional government was thus at an end; every thing was referred to the Dictator. In the afternoon, more than 100,000 persons assembled in the Champ de Mars and the space around it. The greater part of the army, too, were present. Chlopicki came with the senators, and was received by those who had entrusted him with their defence with shouts of joy. His aspect was, indeed, venerable. His silver head, grown white in the service of Poland, bespoke the confidence of all.

The people were informed by one of the senators that all the powers of government had been delegated to Chlopicki, in order that operations might be conducted with greater energy and despatch; yet with this restriction—that his authority should cease on the eighteenth of December. This, it will be remembered, was the day fixed for the opening of the Diet, to which body all farther dispositions were referred. The proclamation made, Chlopicki himself addressed the people thus: 'Poles! brethren! The circumstances in which our country is placed demand strict unity of purpose, and therefore I have thought it best to accept the supreme power. But this is only for a time. I shall resign it on the meeting of the Diet. Rely on my experience, which is the fruit of long service, and on my age, which has taught me the knowledge of mankind. Be assured that no selfish feeling has impelled me to this step, and that I have consented to take it only to promote the welfare of Poland. The truth of this I call God to witness.—May he assist me to make my promises good. Hail to our dear country!' The last sentence was clamorously echoed by the people, with the addition of, 'and its brave defender Chlopicki!' Many in the assembly exclaimed, 'Lead us to Lithuania, Chlopicki!'

[CHAPTER V.]

The Dictator enters upon his duties.—Plans for the enrollment of new forces.—System of officering them.—Want of energy in the execution of his plans.—Fortifications neglected.—The people supply the deficiencies of the administration.—Discovery of the correspondence between the ministers Grabowski and Lubecki.—The march of the army delayed.—Answer of the Emperor Nicholas to the deputies. His proclamation.—Its effect on the nation.—The Diet demand of the Dictator an account of his trust.—The result of their investigations.—Chlopicki deprived of the Dictatorial power.—The civil administration entrusted to Prince Adam Czartoryski, and the command of the Army to Prince Michael Radziwil, each subordinate to the Diet.

On the seventh of December, the new Dictator took possession of the residence which had been prepared for him. A guard of honor was assigned him, consisting of a company of the Academical Legion. The twelve companies of which this legion was composed mounted guard in succession.

The nation had conceived the highest hopes of Chlopicki; they expected, above all, the most energetic measures in regard to the armament and organization of the forces. These hopes were not fulfilled. At the very commencement of his administration, it began to be seen that this man, either from his advanced age or the original inadequacy of his talents to the demands of such a situation, would fail to satisfy the wants of the nation. Indeed, the union of so many different duties in the hands of one individual demanded abilities of no ordinary strength and compass. As might have been expected, the evident incapacity of Chlopicki early became the occasion of dissension in the patriotic association already referred to, accusations being preferred, as a matter of course, against those who had been active in procuring his investment with such high powers. The succeeding events will enable the reader to decide for himself of the justice of such accusations.

On assuming his post, the Dictator adopted the following arrangements in regard to the enrollments of the new forces, and other objects of military administration. He estimated the army already in existence at 25,000 men, and sixty-two pieces of cannon. This army was constituted as follows:—The infantry was composed of nine regiments, of two battalions each, and a battalion of sappers, making a total of 19,000 men. The cavalry was also composed of nine regiments, each regiment consisting of four squadrons, 7,200 men in all. The artillery was divided into nine battalions, of eight pieces each, in all seventy-two pieces, exclusive of the artillery in the fortresses of Modlin and Zamosc.

This force the Dictator proposed to augment in the following manner:—Each existing regiment was to receive a third battalion; and he intended to form fifteen new regiments, of three battalions each. This would have increased the total of infantry to 54,000 men, without taking into the account the National Guard of Warsaw and the other cities, amounting to 10,000 men. The cavalry was to be augmented by 8000, making a total of 15,200. To the artillery were to be added twenty-four pieces of cannon, making a total of ninety-six pieces.

In this estimate the Dictator did not include the aid that might be calculated upon from the provinces of Prussian, Austrian, and Russian Poland, the volunteers of every kind, and the regiments raised and equipped by the large landed proprietors.

For each of the eight palatinates into which the kingdom was divided, an officer was appointed, whose duty it was to superintend the organization of the military forces, of which from seven to eight thousand infantry, and one thousand cavalry, were to be furnished by each palatinate. These officers were subordinate to two others, who had the supervision of four palatinates each, and bore the title of Regimentarz. These last had the power of appointing all the officers of the new forces.[23]

The augmentation of the army was to have been completed by the twentieth of January, 1831. But all these arrangements were made on paper only—the government did not press their execution. In fact, such a degree of negligence existed, that in some places where the people assembled to be enrolled, they found no officers to receive them, and, after waiting some time, they returned to their homes. It was, in truth, only by the energy of the nation, which supplied the deficiencies of the administration, that our forces were ever in any degree augmented. The volunteer force was in an especial manner liberally furnished by the people. A similar state of things existed with regard to the fortifications; and here again the energy of the people atoned for the negligence of the administration. This was especially the case at Warsaw and Praga, where all the citizens labored on the works of defence, without distinction of age or sex.

The construction of barricades in the different streets of Warsaw, and of mines in several parts of the city, was commenced by the citizens. The Dictator, however, instead of occupying his attention with these warlike preparations, devoted it to diplomatic negociations, and despatched emissaries to the neighboring courts, charged with propositions made without the knowledge or the wish of the nation, and even, in some cases, incompatible with its honor, and inconsistent with the design of the revolution. All the measures, indeed, of the Dictator, however well intended they might have been, indicated much weakness and indecision.

Such was the state of affairs when an event occurred that seemed to augur well for our prospects. This was the discovery of the correspondence between the ministers Grabowski and Lubecki, the former being Secretary of State for Poland and a member of the cabinet at St Petersburgh, the latter Minister of Finance at Warsaw. This correspondence afforded the clearest evidence that Russia had intended to declare war against France, and that she was prepared to commence that war in December following.[24]

These letters were sent to Paris in the early part of December, by an express, and ought to have convinced the French government of the hostile intentions of Russia. They should have satisfied France that our revolution, and the war that was to follow, were a part of the great struggle in which her own existence was concerned.

The existing army was, through the activity of the general officers, brought into such a state, by the middle of December, that it could then have taken the field against the enemy. The soldiers were eager for the struggle, but the delay of their march gave color to the supposition that an answer from the Emperor was waited for. It was even rumored that the Emperor was coming to Warsaw in person. All this tended to damp the excitement of the moment. What, then, was the astonishment of the nation, when it was found that the monarch, far from admitting the severity of the oppression under which we had suffered fifteen years,—far from giving a paternal audience to the deputies which the nation had sent to him, and who, in its name, had presented the most moderate demands, (limited, in fact, to the ratification and observance of the constitution granted to us, and the union of the Polish provinces under one government, as had been promised by Alexander,)—far from consenting to repair to Warsaw, as the deputies had entreated him to do, as a father among his children, to hear their complaints and satisfy himself as to their justice,—far from all this,—in a word, discarding all paternal feelings, he applied the term 'infamous' to the sacred effort we had been forced to make by the oppression under which we had so long suffered.[25]

The Russian generals Benkendorf and Diebitsch, in a conversation, of which our revolution was the subject, and which took place in an interview with colonel Wielezynski who was one of the deputies sent to the emperor, spoke of a general war as impending after Poland should be crushed.[26] Colonel Wielezynski returned from St Petersburgh in the latter part of December, bringing with him the proclamation which has already been given to the reader, and which, being published, was received by the people with the utmost indignation. It was an insult to the honor and character of the nation, which demanded vengeance. The day of the promulgation of this document was a day of terrible agitation. The cry of 'To battle! To battle!' was heard in every quarter. The nation demanded to be led against the enemy at once. The word had gone forth 'there is no hope of peace.'[27] It was with difficulty that the people could be restrained from rushing at once to the field and be persuaded to wait for a convocation of the Diet fixed on the 17th of January. This delay was another error, for the time which intervened was uselessly employed. This Diet in the opinion of the nation could decide upon nothing short of war. Upon a just interpretation of the spirit of the Emperor's proclamation, no other course could be taken consistently with the national honor. It was in consequence of this proclamation, of so criminatory, so unjust, so insulting a character, that Nicholas Romanoff and his successors were declared to have forfeited all claims to the throne of Poland, and that that throne was declared vacant. The Poles could no longer submit to a King, who, far from being willing to hear their complaints, far from guarantying the rights secured by the constitution, went the length of insulting that national honor to which all history has borne testimony. To what a future must Poland, under such a king, have looked forward. Better were it to risk the bloodiest conflict, nay, to be buried under the ruins of our country, than to remain the vile slaves of a man, who, relying on the force which he could control, was willing to take advantage of his strength to be unjust.

The Diet demanded of general Chlopicki an account of his trust, in regard to the military and civil administration generally, and in a particular manner in regard to the preparation of the forces. The result of this inquiry was to satisfy them that there had been a general negligence of his duties, especially in regard to the increase and organization of the army. On examining the military reports, it was found that only the fifth part of the amount of force ordered to be levied, was as yet enrolled. Two months had been wasted. The Dictator, as has been already stated, occupied himself principally with diplomatic affairs, and seemed to forget that the country was to be defended. The Diet saw that general Chlopicki was hoping to finish the war by conferences, and that his eagerness for peace was betraying him into a forgetfulness of what was due to the national honor. In fine, a correspondence with the Emperor Nicholas was found to have been carried on by him.[28]

The Dictator, it was seen, had been equally neglectful of the different fortifications. Except at the principal points, Praga, Zamosc, and Modlin, no works of defence had been constructed. The important places of Serock, and Zegrz, the former on the Narew, and the latter below the confluence of the Narew and the Bug, were forgotten, as were all the positions on the great road which leads from Warsaw to Brzese, upon which, or in its vicinity, our principal operations were to be executed. No point on the frontier was strengthened. The country was left entirely open. The Diet, considering all these circumstances, resolved to send a deputation to the Dictator, to demand of him, for the last time, what his intentions were, and to require of him to take the field forthwith. As the Dictator would not submit himself to this expression of the will of the Diet, and even opened to prince Adam Czartoriski, who was one of that deputation, propositions deemed inconsistent with the national honor,—the Diet deprived him of his trust.

The affairs of the civil administration were confided, as before the dictatorship, to the senate, under the presidency of prince Czartoriski, and the command in chief of the army was given to the prince Michael Radzivil. All these powers were subordinate to the Diet. In this manner ended the dictatorship of Chlopicki, who afterwards took a place in the suite of prince Radzivil, and was admitted into the counsels of the administration of military affairs.

FOOTNOTES:

[23] A very important circumstance, which either escaped the notice of the Dictator, or was wilfully neglected by him, respected the nomination and rank of officers. As the army was to be considerably augmented, a proportionally greater number of officers was requisite. All arrangements upon this subject were confided to the Regimentarz, with whom the important power of making these appointments was entirely left. This course soon led to trouble. The Regimentarz, not having the power to transfer the older officers of the existing army, excepting in cases where the offer was made by those officers, were compelled to appoint new officers to newly formed regiments. These newly levied soldiers were thus placed under officers who were but learners themselves. The evil effects of this injudicious system were indeed sensibly felt in the first actions of the campaign. Besides the evil here alluded to, a degree of jealousy between the old and new officers resulted from the operation of these arrangements. It was natural for those who were old in service to see with dissatisfaction recently commissioned officers placed above them in rank. Instead, then, of studying to preserve the utmost harmony between those who were going forth together to shed their blood in the cause of their common country, that course was in fact taken, which if it had been designed to disturb this harmony, would have been deemed the most efficacious.

Arrangements for officering the army might have been made in such a manner as the following, to the satisfaction of all parties. After dividing the officers into three classes, the first, consisting of those actually in service, the second of those who had been in service, but had given up their commissions and were in retirement, and the third, of the newly commissioned officers; a military commission might have been formed, who should have before them lists of officers showing their periods of service. This commission could have designated the rank of each upon an examination of these lists, placing the retired officers in the grades in which they stood at the time of their retirement. The new regiments should have been officered from the two first classes, advancement being made in the grade of each officer. The third class, or the new officers, should have been appointed to the vacancies thus left in the old regiments. Besides the justice which such an arrangement would have done to the officers of older standing, it would have this good effect: the experienced officers would have been more widely distributed through the army, and the new regiments would have advanced more rapidly in organization and discipline. General Skrzynecki clearly saw the defects of the actual arrangement; but once made, it was difficult to reform it. He took, however, every opportunity that offered, to transfer the older officers to advanced grades in the new regiments.

[24] Letter to Prince Lubecki, Minister of Finance at Warsaw, dated St Petersburgh, the 18th of August, 1830. 'My Prince,—His Majesty the Emperor and King directs me to inform you that the Polish troops being now in marching condition, you are requested to provide the necessary funds, without delay, upon which the public treasury may count as occasion may require, to support the expenses of the movement of the army, and of the approaching campaign.'

(Signed) 'Turkul, Secretary of State.'

In an answer to this letter, dated the third of September, Prince Lubecki renders an account of the means at his command. 'Poland,' he says, 'has 8,000,000 gilders in its treasury, and 1,000,000 in the bank of Berlin. She is then ready to undertake the necessary preparations.'

Extract of a letter addressed to Prince Lubecki by Count Grabowski, Secretary of State for Poland, at St Petersburgh. 'The official correspondence which, by the order of his Majesty, I have the honor to communicate to you, my Prince, and which directs the placing of the Polish army on the war establishment, was, undoubtedly, even more unwelcome to you than to myself. I suffer, truly, in seeing the progress of our financial arrangements thus arrested. Our treasury would have been in the most perfect condition, but for the expenses of this war, which will absolutely exhaust its coffers; for on this occasion our geographical position places us in the front line.'

'Dated St Petersburgh, 15th October, 1830.

(Signed) 'Grabowski.'

From the same to the same. Dated October 18th, 1830.

'Having been this day informed by his excellency, the aid-de-camp of his Majesty, Czerniszew, that orders have been given to his royal highness the Cæsarowicz, to place on the war establishment all the troops under his command, without excepting those of the Polish kingdom, and that these orders are to be carried into effect by the 22d of December, I have the honor, my Prince, to communicate this information to you, by his Majesty's order, so that the necessary funds may be furnished without delay to the Minister of War. And I farther request you, my Prince, by the order of his Majesty, to have the goodness to assign to his imperial highness the Cæsarowicz all the funds for which he may have occasion in the execution of his orders.

(Signed) 'Grabowski.'

From the same to the same. Dated 20th November, 1830.

'The return of Marshal Diebitsch will determine what measures it will be necessary to take. He has received orders to pass through Warsaw, on his return from Berlin, with the view to consult with the Grand Duke Constantine, in an especial manner upon subjects connected with the movement and subsistence of the army. The Emperor wishes that you would see the Marshal, as soon as possible after his arrival in Warsaw, in order to consult with him on all these subjects; and he authorizes you to execute all the arrangements which may be determined upon by Marshal Diebitsch and the Grand Duke, without waiting for farther orders from his Majesty. You will conform strictly to the wishes of his imperial Highness. His Majesty, in conclusion, orders me to invite you to repair to St Petersburgh as soon as the army shall have commenced its movement and the war shall have been declared, so that you may receive in person the orders of his Majesty. We are now in the month of November, the distances are great, our armies cannot be ready before the spring, and events follow each other so rapidly that God only knows what may happen before that time. The rapidity of their succession has made it impossible to receive intelligence of events in season to influence their course. It is this which has caused the unfortunate state of affairs in regard to Belgium. And here, again, is opened a train of events, in reference to which it is useless to act, for the next courier may bring us intelligence of an entirely new state of things.'

[25] The proclamations of the Emperor on the 17th and 24th of December were in effect the same. There was a perfect correspondence between them in severity of language and spirit. We will give the last.

'By the grace of God, we, Nicholas the First, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, make known to all our faithful subjects that an infamous treason has convulsed the kingdom of Poland, which is united to Russia. Evil-minded men, who had not been disarmed of their bad passions by the beneficence of the immortal emperor Alexander, the generous restorer of their country, under the protection of the laws he had given them, have secretly concerted plots for the subversion of the established order of things, and began to execute their projects on the 29th of November last, by rebellion, effusion of blood, and attempts against the life of our well beloved brother the Cæsarowicz Grand Duke Constantine Paulowicz. Profiting by the obscurity of the night, a furious populace, excited by these men, precipitated themselves upon the palace of the Cæsarowicz; while, spreading throughout the city of Warsaw the false report that the Russian troops were massacring the peaceable inhabitants, they collected the people about them and filled the city with all the horrors of anarchy. The Cæsarowicz, with the Russians who were about his person, and the Polish troops who remained faithful to their duty, determined to take a position in the vicinity of Warsaw, and not to act with hostility, in order that, avoiding all occasion of shedding blood, they might prove in the clearest manner the falsehood of the report which had been circulated, and give the authorities of the city time and means of bringing back to their duty, in concert with the well-intentioned citizens, those who had been misled, and to restrain the discontented. This hope was not fulfilled. The council of the city were unable to re-establish order. Incessantly menaced by rebels, who had formed some illegal union among themselves, and had gained an influence in the council by separating from it some members named by us, and filling their places with others named by the chiefs of the conspirators, there was no course left to it but to beseech the Cæsarowicz to send back the Polish troops who had left Warsaw with him, to protect the public and private property from new pillage. Soon after this council was entirely dissolved, and all its powers were united in the hand of one general. In the interval, the news of the revolt was spread through all the provinces of Poland. Everywhere the same means were employed. Imposture, menaces, falsehood were used to inveigle the pacific inhabitants into the power of the rebels. In this unfortunate and serious state of things, the Cæsarowicz considered it indispensable to yield to the request of the government. He permitted the small body of Polish troops which remained faithful to him to return to Warsaw, in order to insure as far as possible the security of persons and property. He himself quitted the kingdom with the Russian troops, and entered on the 13th December the town of Wlodawa, in the government of Volhynia.

'Thus was executed a crime which had been resolved upon, probably, for a long time before. After so many misfortunes, and when at least in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity under the protection of our power, the people of the kingdom of Poland have plunged themselves again into the abyss of revolt and misery, and multitudes of credulous men, though already trembling in fear of the chastisement which awaits them, dare to think, for a moment, of victory; and propose to us the condition of being placed on an equality with ourselves! Russians, you know that we reject them with indignation! Your hearts burn with zeal for the throne. Already you appreciate the sentiments we feel. At the first intelligence of the treason, your response was a new oath of unshaken fidelity, and at this moment we see but one movement in the whole extent of our vast empire. But one sentiment animates all hearts; the desire to spare nothing, to sacrifice all, even life itself, for the honor of the Emperor and the integrity of the empire. We witness with deep emotion the strong manifestation of the love of the people for ourselves and for their country. We might, indeed, answer you with tranquillity, that new sacrifices and new efforts will not be necessary. God, the protector of right, is with us, and all-powerful Russia will be able, with a decisive blow, to bring to order those who have dared to disturb her tranquillity. Our faithful troops, who have so recently distinguished themselves by new victories, are already concentrating upon the western frontier of the empire. We are in readiness to punish the perjured; but we wish to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and to pardon the weak, who, from inconsiderateness or fear have followed the current. All the subjects of our kingdom of Poland, all the inhabitants of Warsaw, have not taken part in the conspiracy and its melancholy consequences. Many have proved by a glorious death, that they knew their duty. Others, as we learn by the report of the Grand Duke, have been forced, with tears of despair, to return to the places occupied by the rebels. These last, together with the misguided, compose, no doubt, a great part of the army and of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Poland. We have addressed ourselves to them by a proclamation on the 17th of this month, in which, manifesting our just indignation against the perjured men who have commenced this rebellion, we gave orders to put an end to all illegal armaments, and to restore every thing to its former footing. They have yet time, then, to repair the fault of their compatriots, and to save the Polish kingdom from the pernicious consequences of a blind criminality. In pointing out the only means of safety, we make known this manifestation of our benevolence toward our faithful subjects. They will see in it our wish to protect the inviolability of the throne and of the country, as well as the firm resolution to spare misguided and penitent men. Russians! the example of your Emperor will guide you, the example of justice without vengeance, of perseverance in the combat for the honor and prosperity of the empire, without hatred of adversaries, of love and regard for the subjects of our kingdom of Poland who have remained faithful to the oath they have made to us, and of an earnest desire for reconciliation with all those who shall return to their duty. You will fulfil our hopes, as you have hitherto done. Remain in peace and quietness; full of confidence in God, the constant benefactor of Russia, and in a monarch who appreciates the magnitude and the sacredness of his duties, and who knows how to keep inviolable the dignity of his empire, and the honor of the Russian people.

'Given at St Petersburgh the twenty-fourth of the month of December, 1830.

(Signed) 'Nicholas.'

[26] The following is part of a conversation, in presence of the Emperor, between generals field marshal Diebitsch and Benkendorf, and colonel Wielezynski, (one of the deputies sent by the Polish Dictator,) at the close of a short interview, which took place at a council on the affairs of state to which those generals had been called by the Emperor.

'Well, gentlemen of Poland,' said marshal Diebitsch, 'your revolution has not even the merit of being well timed. You have risen at the moment when the whole force of the empire was on the march toward your frontiers, to bring the revolutionary spirits of France and Belgium to order.'

When the colonel observed that Poland thought herself capable of arresting the torrent long enough to give Europe the alarm, and to prepare her for the struggle, marshal Diebitsch answered,

'Well, what will you gain by the result? We had calculated to make our campaign on the Rhine; we shall now make it on the Elbe or the Oder, having crushed you first. Consider this well.'

[27] According to the testimony of colonel Wielezynski, the proclamation of the Emperor was in entire contradiction to the sentiments he expressed in the conversation above mentioned. The tone of that conversation was anything but severe. He even conceded that the Poles had just reason to be discontented, and admitted many of the barbarities of his brother, the Grand Duke Constantine. He promised colonel Wielezynski that he would act with the strictest justice, and would consider it a duty to inquire scrupulously into, and carefully distinguish all the circumstances of the case, in regard to which a manifesto should shortly be published. As he took leave of the colonel, in presence of Diebitsch and Benkendorf, he declared that he loved and esteemed the Poles, and that these his feelings should be the basis of his course with regard to them. How inconsistent such language with that of the proclamation!

[28] Some letters of the Emperor Nicholas were found among the papers of Chlopicki, in which the Emperor expressed his thanks to him for having taken the Dictatorship, and for the service which he had done to him, by the preservation of public tranquillity. The emperor exhorted him to follow 'the conditions which had been prescribed to him.' The conditions here referred to could not be found. The reader will permit me to dwell, for a moment, upon the mode of conduct, on the part of the Emperor Nicholas, which is here indicated.

What conditions could Nicholas propose to the Dictator, which the nation should not know of? If those conditions were compatible with justice and with the honor of the nation, why was all this secrecy necessary? If they were incompatible with justice and our honor, the Dictator certainly could not have it in his power to make the nation accept of them. On the contrary, the nation who had given him its confidence, the moment that it should have been convinced that the Dictator had intended to compromise its honor, would have despised him as a traitor, and he would have fallen a sacrifice to its indignation. To wish to induce him, on his own responsibility, to commit acts contrary to the honor of the nation, is to be willing, for selfish ends, to induce him to do that which would render him infamous in history.

Is this a course becoming a King? A conduct so insincere, Machiavelian, and even malignant, is based on the system of intrigue, and is in correspondence with the accustomed policy of the Russian cabinet,—a policy which has always brought divisions and misery upon the nations who have been under her power. Such a system, however, is far from being ultimately favorable to the interests of Russia herself, for it can never lead to a sure result. Sooner or later duplicity will be discovered, and the more a nation has been deceived, the deeper will be its determination of vengeance.

The letters referred to, which, I believe, are now in the hands of some of our countrymen, will be, in the eyes of the world, a new justification of our revolution.

[CHAPTER VI.]

Remarks on the policy of the late Dictator.—System of operations adopted.—The army leaves Warsaw.—Statement of the existing forces.—Of the forces proposed to be raised.—Unfortunate consequences of the delay in the preparation of the forces.—Statement of the force with which the war was actually commenced.

The dictatorship had exercised a most unpropitious influence upon our affairs.[29] Every movement had been retarded, and the most invaluable time was lost. Instead of offensive operations, the defensive was now necessarily taken. We awaited the enemy on our native soil, and exposed that soil to his insults and outrages. Even, however, at this point, the patriots called on the government to take the offensive, but it was too late. An immense Russian army was concentrated upon our frontiers, and was ready to pass them. Our forces were not strong enough to defend every point against the enemy's entrance. It was decided to keep our troops concentrated, and presenting to him always a narrow and recurvated front, to lead the enemy to the environs of Warsaw, and to give him a decisive battle there. On about the 20th of January, the prince Radzivil renewed the orders for the most rapid organization of all the different corps, and directed those corps which were already organized to hold themselves in readiness for marching. A division of lancers which was in the environs of Siedlce, augmented by some regiments of newly raised light cavalry, occupied, as a corps of observation, all the country between Wlodawa and Ciechanowiec, and were ordered to watch every movement of the enemy in that region. On about the 25th of January, the troops began to leave Warsaw and the other towns of the department, and to concentrate themselves upon a line embracing the towns of Siedlce, Ostrolenka, and Lukow.[30]

STATEMENT OF THE EXISTING ARMY, AND OF THE NEW FORCES PROPOSED TO BE LEVIED.

The whole Polish force under the Russian government, consisted, of Infantry, nine regiments of two battalions each, 19,000 men, and a battalion of sappers of 1,000 men, in all 20,000; Cavalry, nine regiments of four squadrons each; in all, 7,200; Artillery, six batteries of eight pieces each, and two batteries of light artillery, also, of eight pieces each; in all, sixty-four pieces. According to the plans of the Dictator, the infantry was to be augmented in the following manner. To each of the existing regiments was to be added a battalion of 1,000, making a total of 9,000 men. He then proposed to form fifteen new regiments, thus increasing the number of regiments of infantry to twenty-four. Each one of the new regiments was to be composed of three battalions of 1,000 men each. The total of these new regiments would then have been 45,000 men, and the grand total of the new levy would be 54,000 men. This body of recruits was to be made up from those of the exempts (their term of service[31] having expired) who were yet under the age of forty, and from all others under that age, and above that of sixteen.

Of this force, six thousand men was to be furnished by Warsaw, and an equal number by each of the eight palatinates. Besides this force, the enrollment of a national guard at Warsaw of 10,000 men was ordered; and in forming this body, no exemption was admitted except from age or bodily infirmity. Each of the eight palatinates was also to enroll a national guard of a thousand men. Thus the whole national guard was to consist of 18,000 men.

The cavalry was to be augmented as follows. From the whole gend'armerie, it was proposed to form a regiment of carabiniers, consisting of two squadrons of two hundred men each. To the nine existing regiments of cavalry it was proposed to add, as a reserve, four squadrons of two hundred each, making, in all, eight hundred. Ten new regiments were to be formed, of four squadrons each; so that the whole number of old and new cavalry would be twenty regiments. The whole augmentation of this army would amount to 9,200. The raising of this force, as in the case of the infantry, was to be equally divided between Warsaw and each of the eight palatinates.

The artillery was to be augmented by four batteries, of eight pieces each, making a total of thirty-two pieces.

This force, although it would seem to be disproportionate to the resources of the kingdom, it was certainly possible to have raised; for the energy and spirit of the people were at the highest point, and every one felt the importance of improving the favorable moment, which the general state of Europe, and the weakness of Russia, presented. If the reader will anticipate the course of events, and remember what a struggle, against the Russian force of more than 200,000 men, was sustained by the 40,000 only which we actually brought into the field, he may conjecture what advantages might have been expected from twice that number, which we should certainly have brought to the field, had the energy of the government followed out its plans. But from the incapacity of the Dictator for the energetic execution of his trust, these forces were never raised, and it was soon seen that Chlopicki, by assuming a duty to which he was unequal, gave the first blow to the rising fortunes of his country. The Dictator, as we have seen, had not even taken a step towards the organization of these forces, and one would have thought that he had thrown out these plans merely to blind the eyes of the nation, without having entertained the thought of taking the field. Two months passed away, the inevitable moment of the conflict arrived, and the nation was obliged to march to the fight with half the force which, under an energetic administration, it would have wielded. If we add to this unfortunate state of things, that, besides the threatening forces of our gigantic enemy, Prussia and Austria, at this late moment, and especially the former, had began to take an attitude of hostility towards us, and thus all hope of sympathy from her neighbors was lost to Poland, the perilous nature of the crisis to which the delay of the dictatorial government had brought us, thus unprepared, may be imagined. But Poland did not suffer herself to be discouraged by all these unpropitious circumstances. Trusting to the righteousness of her cause, she went forth to the contest, determined to fall or to be free.

STATEMENT OF THE FORCES WITH WHICH THE WAR WAS ACTUALLY COMMENCED.

A great exactitude in the computation of these forces would be obviously impracticable, as the precise number of the detachments of volunteers, occasionally joining the army, serving in a particular locality only, and often perhaps for a limited period, cannot be ascertained; but it will not be difficult to make a pretty near approximation to the truth.

At the beginning of the campaign, the forces were divided into four divisions of infantry, four of cavalry, and twelve batteries of artillery, of eight pieces each.

The four divisions of infantry were nearly equal, consisting of from 7 to 8,000 men each. To each of these divisions a corps of 250 sappers was attached. The divisions were commanded as follows; 1st division by general Krukowiecki; 2d division, general Zymirski; 3d division, general Skrzynecki; 4th division, general Szembek.

This cavalry, which was composed of 66 squadrons, was divided into four nearly equal bodies. They were commanded as follows. 1st division, by general Uminski, consisting of 15 squadrons; 2d division, general Stryinski, 15 squadrons; 3d division, general Lubinski, 15 squadrons; 4th division, making the reserve, under general Pac, 17 squadrons. Besides those divisions, four squadrons were designated for the corps of general Dwernicki.

The artillery was divided into 12 batteries of eight pieces each, making in all 96 pieces.

The general statement of the forces with which the campaign was commenced is then as follows:

Infantry, 32,600. Cavalry, 13,200. Artillery, 96 pieces.

This incredibly small number marched to the combat against a Russian force of at least 200,000 men and 300 cannon. In fact, by the reports of field marshal Diebitsch, found after his retreat, and the detailed statements confidently made in the Berlin Gazette, the Russian forces amounted to 300,000; but we reject one third on the supposition that the regiments had not been entirely completed. If the very thought of commencing a war with such disproportionate means, against so overwhelming a force, should seem to the reader to be little better than madness, he will appreciate the energy and courage with which it was supported, when he learns that in twenty days, from the 10th of February to the 2d of March, thirteen sanguinary battles were fought with the enemy, besides twice that number of small skirmishes, in which, as we shall see, that enemy was uniformly defeated, and a full third part of his forces annihilated.

FOOTNOTES:

[29] The dictatorship may be said to have been the first of our misfortunes. The Dictator, acting in contradiction to the spirit of the revolution, did not take advantage of that enthusiasm with which the revolution commenced and by which prodigies might have been achieved. But not only did he neglect to make use of that enthusiasm, or to foster it, he even took measures which had a tendency to repress it. The first fault with which he was reproached by the Patriotic Club, was his having given permission to the Grand Duke to leave the kingdom with his corps, taking with them their arms and accoutrements, which were really Polish property. The retaining of the Grand Duke would have been of the greatest importance to us. No historian could have blamed such an act; for if the justice of our revolution be once acknowledged, every energetic and decisive act which would favor its happy result must also be justified in the view of history. The Russians indeed have regarded our conduct on this point as an indication of weakness and timidity rather than as an act of delicacy and magnanimity, in which light Chlopicki intended that it should be considered. That same corps, attached to the Grand Duke, consisting, as we have said, of 7,000 men and 24 cannon, with the Grand Duke himself, did not regard it in this light, for they fought against us in the very first battle. Another fault of general Chlopicki was, not to have taken immediately the offensive, passed the Bug, and entered the brother provinces which had been incorporated with Russia. The Russian troops, especially those in Lithuania, were not in a state to resist the first impetuosity of our national forces. The Russian soldiers, as the reader probably knows, are not, except in the large cities, concentrated in barracks, as in other states of Europe, but are dispersed in quarters throughout the country, in small bodies; so that sometimes a single regiment may be spread to a circumference which may embrace eighty to a hundred villages, with perhaps from ten to thirty soldiers only, in each. In fact, the soldiers of a company may have often from six to twelve miles march to reach the quarters of their captain. All this made the concentration of these forces an affair of time and difficulty; and one regiment after another could have been fallen upon, and their whole forces annihilated in detail, and that without much effusion of blood. Besides this, the Russian corps of Lithuania was composed, in part, of our brethren enrolled in that province, and even commanded, in part, by officers natives of that province. They would of course have united themselves with us, and the revolution would have spread, with the rapidity of lightning, to the very borders of the Dwina and the Dnieper; and after this, not four millions alone, but sixteen millions of Poles, would have been united in one cause. At a later period, all this was no longer possible. Russia began to become alive to the danger of the occurrence of such a state of things, and all the regiments with Polish soldiers in their ranks were withdrawn into the interior, and three hundred Polish officers in the Russian service were sent to take commands in regiments posted in the regions about the Caucasus, in Asia.

The Dictator, who gave as a reason for not having taken the above course, that the neighboring cabinets would have taken umbrage at it as a violation of a foreign territory, can with difficulty be conceived to have really felt that this would have been the case. Even if such apprehensions were well founded, are diplomatic formalities to be regarded, on an occasion like this? Should we, in such a cause, forbear, from apprehensions of this kind, to press on to the delivery of our brethren from the despotism under which they were suffering? But, in fact, the true interests of those cabinets were to be found in, what every sagacious observer of European history has pointed out as the great safeguard of Europe, the establishment of the Polish kingdom as a barrier against the threatening preponderance of our barbarous enemy. It was indeed ridiculous to require of the Poles that they should regard, as their only limits, the little kingdom into which the violence and fraud of the combined sovereigns had contracted them. The Poles, in entering those provinces, would have been still on the soil of their ancient country; and, in fact, the revolution was equally justifiable at Wilna, Kiow, and Smolensk, as at Warsaw. The patriots, indeed, who began the latter, did not think of their own sufferings alone, they bore in mind also the even greater sufferings of their brethren who were more absolutely in the power of despotism. It was indeed the great end of the patriots and of the nation, the union of all the provinces of ancient Poland, which was abandoned by the Dictator. Nothing else, in fact, but the forcing of the frontiers, would have subdued the arrogance of the Emperor, and forced him to listen to our claims. The unanimous voice of sixteen millions of Poles could not have safely been despised. This compulsory amelioration of our condition would have also spared Nicholas the remorse with which he must reflect on the sacrifice of nearly 200,000 lives, and the death or suffering to which he has condemned, and is still condemning, the best spirits of Poland.

[30] I cannot forbear to dwell for a moment upon the occasion of the departure of our troops from Warsaw and the other towns. It was one of the fine and touching moments of our revolution. Every friend of liberty would have desired to have brought together all the autocrats of the world to witness the animation with which our national troops went forth to engage in the combat for liberty. Perhaps they would have been involuntarily struck with the conviction that this liberty must be a blessing when men will sacrifice themselves so cheerfully to achieve it. When the march was commenced, all the inhabitants of the neighboring country left their homes to witness the departure, and all the plains about Warsaw and the road sides between Warsaw and Siedlce were covered with people. The soldiers, in marching through the streets of the city, passed between lines of people composed of senators, officers of the government, the clergy, children from the schools, the members of the national guard, and in short an immense assembly of both sexes, reaching even to two miles beyond Praga. All the regiments passed in review before the general in chief, and each regiment took the oath to defend their country to the last drop of their blood. Exclamations such as these were constantly uttered: 'Dear General, if you see us turn from before the enemy, point the artillery against us, and annihilate our ranks.' The fourth regiment, the bravest of the brave, knowing that our magazines were ill provided with powder, refused at first to receive any cartridges; but on the remonstrance of the chief, they agreed to take thirty each man, (half of the complement for one battle,) saying that they would furnish themselves afterwards from the Russians. They then entreated the commander in chief never to send them against a smaller body of the enemy than a division, and to use them wherever a decisive blow was required. 'Forget, dear general,' said they, 'that we have no powder; but trust to our bayonets!'

It was truly affecting to witness the parting of the soldiers from their friends and relatives,—fathers taking leave of children, children of fathers, husbands of wives,—and to hear the cries of sorrow mingled with animating shouts and patriotic hymns. These are moments of which I am unequal to the description; but which every freeman will form a conception of,—moments of the struggle between domestic happiness and public duty; moments which show that the love of country is the most powerful of all sentiments, and that men will sacrifice every thing under its impulses.

[31] A service of ten years in the army, in person, or by substitute, was required by law of every citizen.

[CHAPTER VII.]

Entrance of the Russian forces into the Kingdom.—Proclamations of Marshal Diebitsch.—Their effect.—Disposition of the Russian and Polish forces.—Plan of operations of the Poles.

The Russian forces, simultaneously with the Polish, began to concentrate themselves on the frontiers of the kingdom, (See Plan No. 1) particularly at Bialystok (11) and Grodno (10). Four general points were designated for the entrance of this enormous force, viz. Zlotoria (12), Ciechanowiec (9), Brzesc (8), and Wlodawa (7).

Marshal Diebitsch, on entering the kingdom, published a proclamation to the Poles, a copy of which is given in the note.[32]

I

Those proclamations were published in the latter part of January. The people were disgusted with their promises and their menaces, and rejecting all idea of reconciliation on such terms as these proclamations set forth, they entreated to be led to the struggle in which they had once decided to engage, preferring every sacrifice to so degrading a submission. They demanded that an answer should be sent to Diebitsch, informing him that they were ready to meet him, and called upon the government to commence hostilities without a moment's delay.[33]

The Russian forces, [See plan No. 1, (a)] consisting, as we have already mentioned, of about 200,000 men and 300 pieces of cannon, had, on about the 5th of February, passed the Polish frontier at the four general points above named (7, 8, 9, 12). Their different commanders, besides the marshal Diebitsch, were, the Grand Duke Constantine, generals Rosen, Pablen, Geismer, Kreutz, prince Wirtemberg, and Witt. The chief d'etat major was general Toll, the most skilful of the Russian generals. The space designated for the entrance of the different detachments of the Russian corps embraced an extent of ninety-six English miles. This space was almost wholly occupied by either small or large detachments. General Diebitsch, meaning to attack our centre at Siedlce with a part of his army, intended to outflank us with the rest, and to march directly upon Warsaw, and thus, following the plan of Napoleon in the campaign of Prussia, in 1806, at Jena and Auerstacdt, to cripple our front, and to put an end to the war in a moment. The plans of this renowned commander were well understood by our general officers, and to resist them, it was determined to contract our forces (b) into a line of operations, narrow, but concentrated and strong; a course which our inferiority of force seemed to require. This line was posted as follows. Our left wing, consisting of the fourth division of general Szembek and a division of cavalry under general Uminski, was in the environs of Pultusk (14). This wing sent its reconnoissances towards Ostrolenka (4). In the environs of the town of Jadow (16) was the division of general Krukowiecki; and in the environs of Wengrow (15), the division of general Skrzynecki, with the division of cavalry commanded by general Lubinski. The centre of our position was about half way between the two latter places. Our right wing was at Siedlce (2), and was composed of the 2nd division of infantry under general Zymirski, and the 2nd division of cavalry under general Stryinski. To cover the right wing, a small corps under the command of general Dwernicki was posted at Seroczyn (17). That corps consisted of 3,000 infantry, 800 horse, and three pieces of cannon. Different patrols of cavalry were employed in observing the enemy along the whole space between Sokolow, Miendzyrzec, and Parczewo. The rivers Narew (N), Bug (B), and Liewiec (L), covered the whole line of our operations, and made it sufficiently strong. Our centre, especially, was well posted between Jadow (16), Wengrow (15), and Siedlce (2). It was protected by the great marshes formed by the river Lieviec (L). Excepting in a few points, which were well fortified, these marshes were wholly impassable. It is to be regretted that this position was not made still stronger by more ample fortifications. Besides making the passage of this point cost a more severe loss to the enemy, such fortifications would have enabled us to spare one whole division for other purposes. Fortifications of positions should always be the more freely combined with tactics, in proportion to the inferiority of a force.

In the above mentioned position we were to await the first shock of the enemy, after which the army was to retire slowly towards the environs of Praga, and in such a manner that each corps should always be on the parallel with the rest. In this retreat each corps was required to profit by every opportunity, to cause the utmost loss to the enemy, and to harass him as much as possible. By a retreat of this nature, it was intended to draw the enemy on to the walls of Warsaw, and, having weakened him during such a retreat, to give him a decisive battle there.

FOOTNOTES:

[32] Proclamation of the Field Marshal Count Diebitsch Zabalkansky to the Poles.

Poles! His Majesty the Emperor and King, our august sovereign, has confided to me the command of the troops destined to put an end to the deplorable disorders which afflict the kingdom of Poland. The proclamation of his majesty the Emperor and King has already apprised you that the Emperor has wished, in his generosity, to distinguish his faithful subjects who have respected their oaths, from the guilty instigators of disorder who have sacrificed to their odious ambition the interests of a happy and peaceful community. Nay, more, he wishes to extend his benevolence and his clemency to the unfortunate persons who through weakness or fear have lent themselves as the accomplices of a deplorable enterprize. Poles! Hear the voice of your sovereign and your father, the successor of the august restorer of your country, who like him has always desired your happiness. Even the guilty will experience the effects of his magnanimity, if they will trust to it with confidence. Those only who have dipped their hands in blood, and those who still more guilty perhaps, have excited others to do this, will meet the just punishment to which the law condemns them.

1. At the moment of entering with the troops which I command into the kingdom of Poland, I wish to convince you of the principles which will guide all my steps. A faithful soldier, and a conscientious executor of the orders of my sovereign, I will never depart from them. The peaceful inhabitants who shall receive us as friends and brothers, will find their friendly dispositions reciprocated by the troops placed under my orders. The soldiers will pay a fair price for every thing which shall be furnished to them, and if circumstances require that the troops shall be provisioned by the inhabitants, or if we shall be forced to make requisitions (which we shall endeavor to avoid as far as possible,) in such cases the inhabitants will receive payment in printed certificates, which will be taken as money at the offices for the payment of imposts. Prices will be established for the provisions furnished according to the current value of the articles in the different districts.

2. On the approach of the Russian troops, the inhabitants of the towns and villages, who have taken arms in obedience to the orders of the government which has been illegally instituted, will be required to surrender their arms to the local authorities, if those latter shall have returned to their duties. In other cases, they will be required to give up their arms upon the entrance of the troops of his majesty the Emperor and King.

3. Every inhabitant, who, forgetting the duties which he owes to his sovereign, shall persevere in the revolt, and shall be taken with arms in his hands, will have to meet the utmost rigor of the law. Those who shall attempt to defend themselves against the troops, shall be delivered over to a council of war. The towns and villages who shall dare to resist his majesty the Emperor and King, will be punished according to the degree their resistance shall have been carried, by an extraordinary contribution, more or less heavy. This contribution will be principally levied upon those who shall have taken part in a criminal defence, either by carrying arms themselves, or by exciting others to that crime. In case of relapse from a return to duty, and of rebellion in the rear of the Russian army, the insurgent places shall be treated with the utmost military rigor. The principal instigators shall be punished with death, and the others exiled; but the greatest care will be taken to distinguish and protect those who shall have had no part in the crime.

4. To prevent such evils, I invite all the authorities, civil as well as military, who may be in the towns and cities, to send deputies to the commanders of the Russian forces, when these forces shall arrive. Such deputations will bring with them as a sign of submission to their legitimate sovereign, a white flag. They will be expected to announce that the inhabitants submit themselves to the benevolence of his majesty the Emperor and King, and that their arms have been deposited in some place which shall be designated. The Russian commanders will then take the necessary measures of security. They will maintain the civil authorities, which existed before the revolt, as well as those which shall have been instituted afterwards, if they have taken no active part in the rebellion. The sedentary guard of veterans will be continued, if they have not engaged in the resistance, or given manifest proofs of treason towards their legitimate sovereign. All those authorities, civil as well as military, will be required to renew their oaths of fidelity. Conformably to the orders of his majesty the Emperor and King, an amnesty and pardon for the past will be given to all of those who shall submit without delay, and shall comply with the conditions which have been above mentioned.

5. The Russian commanders shall organize, as circumstances may require, in the places where no Russian garrisons may remain, a civil and municipal guard, who shall be chosen from among the most faithful of the veterans, and the inhabitants shall be entrusted with the interior police, as far as may be necessary to secure order and tranquillity.

6. The organization of the administration of the palatinates, arrondissements, and communes, will remain upon the footing on which it was before the insurrection. It will be the same with all the direct and indirect taxes. The authorities will remain in their places after they shall have complied with the above conditions. In other cases, new authorities will be established by the choice of the commanders of the Russian forces. That choice will fall principally upon the individuals who may unite, with the necessary capacity, an established moral character, and who shall have given proofs of their fidelity to their legitimate sovereign. All those will be excluded who shall have taken any part whatever in the rebellion, as well as those who after the entrance of the Russian troops into the kingdom shall persist in an organized opposition against legal order. The proprietors of land and houses who may remain tranquil in their habitations, and shall submit to the conditions above announced, will be protected in their rights, as well by the local authorities as by the Russian troops. In other cases, the property of all those who shall remain in the revolutionary ranks will be sequestered, as well as that of those who shall have continued to exercise the functions entrusted to them by the illegal government, or in some who shall have openly taken part in the revolt. Such are, Poles, the principles which will direct the army which his Majesty has deigned to confide to my command. You have to choose between the benefits which an unqualified submission to the will of our magnanimous sovereign assures to you, and the evils which will be brought upon you by a state of things without object as well as without hope. I hold it an honor to have been called upon to make known to you these resolutions, emanating from the generous intentions of the Emperor and King. I shall execute them scrupulously, but I shall not fail to punish criminal obstinacy with inflexible severity.

(Signed) The Marshal Count Diebitsch Zabalkansky.

Proclamation of the Count Diebitsch Zabalkansky to the Polish troops.

Generous Poles! Twenty-five years since, your country was implicated in the wars which the gigantic plans of a celebrated conqueror had kindled. The hope, often awakened, and always disappointed, of an illusory regeneration, had connected you with his fortunes. Faithful, although unfortunate, you answered those deceptive promises by the sacrifice of your blood. There is scarce a country, however distant it may have been, that has not been wet with that blood which you have prodigally shed for interests altogether foreign to the destiny of your country. Great events brought at last, at a remarkable epoch, an end to your misfortunes. After a contest, forever memorable, in which Russia saw you among the number of her enemies, the Emperor Alexander, of immortal memory, obeying only the impulse of his magnanimous heart, wished to add to all his other titles to glory, that of being the restorer of your country. Poland recovered her name, and the Polish army a new life. All the elements of national welfare, of tranquillity, and of prosperity, were miraculously united, and fifteen years of uninterrupted progress prove, to this day, the greatness of the benefits for which your country is indebted to the paternal solicitude of the sovereign who was its restorer, and to the no less earnest concern of him who has so nobly continued the work of his predecessor.

Polish Warriors! His Majesty the Emperor and King has trusted to your gratitude and your fidelity. A short time since he gladly did justice to your devotedness and your good will. The exemplary conduct of all the Polish officers, without exception, who partook with our armies the fatigues and the glory of the Turkish war, had given a high satisfaction to his Majesty. We accepted with pleasure this fraternity of arms which became a new bond between the Russian and Polish troops. The best hope of reciprocal advantages should connect with that union, which was founded upon all that is sacred in military honor. Those hopes have been cruelly deceived. A handful of young men, who have never known the dangers of battle, of young officers who had never passed through a campaign or even a march, have shaken the fidelity of the brave. The latter have seen committed in their ranks the greatest of crimes, the murder of their commanders; they have not arrested the revolt against their legitimate sovereign. What unhappy blindness, what criminal condescension has been able to induce these veterans to permit the consummation of the greatest of offences, and to join themselves with those whose hands were stained with blood! Can it be possible that the design of rendering a service to their country has been made for a moment a pretext for such conduct? That country can answer that for a long period she had never enjoyed so much happiness. She had attained much, and she could still hope much from her fidelity, and the support of public order. She exposes herself to the loss of all these advantages by engaging in an unequal struggle, in revolting against a sovereign whose firm and energetic character is well known, and in braving a power which has never been defied with impunity.

Polish Warriors! Rebellion would stamp upon your front the stain of dishonor. Put away from you such an ignominy. History will one day relate, that, in the hope of serving your country, you have been faithful and devoted to the man who promised you every thing, and kept his promise in nothing. Shall it also say that, paying with ingratitude and perjury, the sovereign who has generously granted you every thing which you had any right to hope for, you have drawn down upon your country new misfortunes, and upon yourselves an indelible disgrace? If some grievances existed, you should have had confidence enough in the character of our august sovereign to have laid before him your complaints, in a legal manner, and with that frankness which characterizes the true soldier. And I too, Poles, I speak the sincere language of a soldier; I have never known any other. Obedient to the orders of my sovereign, I reiterate, by his wishes, all the propositions which, in his clemency, he has already made to you by his proclamation of the 17th of December. Our august sovereign has witnessed, with marked satisfaction, the fidelity of the brave light-cavalry of the guard, of the greater part of the grenadiers of the guard, and of the sub-officers of the cavalry. He does not doubt that the greater part of the troops cherished the desire to remain faithful to their oaths, and that many others were hurried away only by the impulse of the moment. Let each one hasten to execute the orders which are contained in the proclamation of his majesty. But if unforeseen circumstances do not permit you to follow the course which has been pointed out to you; at least, on the approach of the faithful armies of our common sovereign, remember your duties and your oaths. It is not as enemies that the troops placed under my command enter the kingdom of Poland. It is on the contrary with the noble object of re-establishing public order and the laws. They will receive as brothers all persons, either in civil or military life, who shall return to their duties; but they will know how to subdue, with the constancy and courage which they have ever manifested, the resistance which evil-minded men may attempt to oppose to them,—men who, trampling under foot the sacredness of their oaths and the laws of honor, sacrifice to their ambitious and even criminal projects the dearest interests of their country. It is to you especially, generals and colonels of the Polish army, that I address myself with confidence; to you, whom I have been accustomed to regard as my worthy brothers in arms. Return from the momentary error to which you have been capable of surrendering yourselves, that you may, in joining the rebellious, bring them back to their duties, and serve your country without violating your oaths. Experience will have disabused you of your error: return to the path of fidelity, and you will by that restore the happiness of your country. You know the clemency of our august sovereign: return to him. Weigh well the immense responsibility which you will take upon your heads by a criminal obstinacy. Join yourselves to your brothers in arms. Show that you are still worthy to be the commanders of the troops which your sovereign has entrusted to you. You will be received as brothers. An amnesty of the past is assured to you. The troops which I command will fulfil with loyalty the intentions of our sovereign, and the gratitude of your country, restored to tranquillity, will be a delightful reward for your return to your duty. But if there are found among you men hardened in crime, who cannot be persuaded to trust in magnanimity, because they know not the elevated sentiments in which it has its origin, let all the bonds of military fraternity between you and them be broken; the all-powerful hand of God, the protector of the good cause, will bring down upon their heads the punishment due to their crimes.

(Signed) The Marshal Diebitsch Zabalkansky.

[33] To the proclamations of general Diebitsch, one of our countrymen made a reply, in the form of a letter, which was published in the gazettes, and which, as far as my memory serves me, was in nearly the following terms: 'General, your proclamations, which breathe the spirit of injustice, arrogance, and cruelty—the menacing tone of which is backed by the colossal force you have led to the invasion of our territory, and which you are to wield as an instrument for establishing a new tyranny and inflicting new sufferings upon a country of freemen,—these proclamations, general, prove that the favorable opinion which Europe entertained of you was ill-grounded, and that you too, like the rest, are willing to lend yourself an easy and vile instrument in the hands of the oppressor. Diebitsch! Can it be you who so recently passed the Balkan, to deliver a nation from the yoke of barbarism,—an action which gained for you so great a name in history?

'Do you remember the proclamations which you published on that occasion, how different from these, filled with noble thoughts, and in which you felicitated yourself on being placed in command of an army destined to deliver the unfortunate Greek nation from the barbarism which was oppressing it. What a contrast! There you went to deliver the unfortunate; here you come to increase the sufferings of a nation which has for fifteen years been oppressed in a manner which was well known to you, and which it is horrible to think of. General, have you forgotten how you were received at Warsaw, after your return from the campaign of Turkey? Have you lost the recollection of those looks of welcome and of joy at the sight of the man who had effected the deliverance of an unfortunate and oppressed nation? You were then touched, for the sentiments of the Polish nation were in harmony with those which you yourself then entertained. All those recollections you have turned away from. Dazzled by false ideas of greatness, arrogance has driven from your heart those noble sentiments which would have made you truly great. Diebitsch! Poland once had confidence in you. Many Poles had hoped that you would act as a mediator between your monarch and us. No one could be in a more favorable situation than yourself to set before that monarch the nature of our sufferings, and the claims which we had upon his justice. You would have been in a situation to persuade him that the time had come to aid the cause of civilization, and to promote his own happiness, by conceding to a nation those rights which are essential to its happiness and prosperity. Poland had such expectations of you. You alone, who are so near the person of the monarch, and to whom his character is so intimately known, you could have done this. Such conduct would have added indeed to the glory you had already acquired. Who then would have equalled you? But, for your misfortune, you have chosen another course, and by acting as a servile instrument of tyranny you have tarnished all your former glory. Know then, Diebitsch, that the Poles despise you. Spare both your promises and your menaces; for with neither will you effect anything. They long for the approach of your colossal masses, that they may give you an example of what freemen can do.'

[CHAPTER VIII.]

The opening fire.—Affairs of the 10th and 11th February.—Combat of Stoczek.—Disposition in consequence of that battle.—Battle of Boimie.—Retrograde movement to Dobre.—Combat of Makowiec.—Passage of the Orsyca.—Combat of Dobre. Attack on the right wing at Minsk.

The tenth of February, 1831, was the first day, after an interval of fifteen years, of the encounter between the Russian and Polish arms. Mendzyrzec (18) was the place in which the first fire was given; and the little skirmish which took place there was of good presage. On the morning of that day, two regiments of Cossacks showed themselves upon the plain before the town, on which were posted two regiments of krakus, or light cavalry, and the 4th regiment of lancers, as an advanced guard. Our cavalry were impatient to engage with the enemy, and begged of their commander to be allowed to attack him. When it was seen that this body of the enemy was detached from his larger force, permission was given to one of the two new regiments of light cavalry, supported by a squadron of the old cavalry as a reserve, to throw themselves upon the enemy. In a moment our cavalry were among the ranks of the Cossacks. Both of the enemy's regiments were dispersed, and one squadron with six officers were taken prisoners. The enemy was not pursued, our troops being satisfied with this successful attack, and with having excited the first consternation in the enemy's ranks. After this skirmish, our cavalry, in obedience to previous instructions, retired to the environs of Siedlce (2). In this town was a little garrison consisting of a regiment of light infantry and a detachment of riflemen, formed and commanded by Michael Kuszel. On the 11th, at about mid-day, the whole of the advanced guard of the Russian centre, which was commanded by Diebitsch in person, reached the environs of Siedlce (2), and took position there. Before the night set in, other Russian columns began to place themselves upon the same plain. Their advanced guard then recommenced the march, throwing their tirailleurs forward, who began a warm fire, which was answered by our own light troops, who were placed in the faubourgs and the sides of the town. The brave detachment of Kuszel's riflemen, who were finely trained and equipped, caused a great loss to the enemy. The Russian artillery, to protect their tirailleurs and the columns of infantry which followed them, commenced a heavy fire upon the faubourgs occupied by our infantry. This fire of the Russian artillery was ineffectual; but our own fire, as the Russians were exposed in an open plain, was very destructive. The action continued until dark, when our infantry began to evacuate the town, and marched to rejoin the divisionary camp, which was about a mile in the rear.

II Steizel.

At 8 o'clock, general Zymirski, supposing that the enemy had taken possession of the town, determined to make an attack, with two regiments, upon the town and the Russian camp, at the point of the bayonet. The 7th regiment of the line and the 4th regiment of light infantry, which were designated for this object, fell with impetuosity upon the enemy, whom they found in an wholly unprepared state. A few hundred prisoners were the fruits of this attack, after which our forces evacuated the town. These little advantages gained in those two days, retarded the advance of the enemy. He remained inactive on the 12th and 13th. On the 14th, the Russian corps under the command of general Kreutz, composed of 15,000 men and 24 pieces of cannon, attacked the small corps of observation on our right, under the command of general Dwernicki.

COMBAT OF STOCZEK. [See Plan II.]

General Dwernicki, although aware of the vast superiority of the enemy's force, yet, trusting in the strength of his own position, determined to meet his attack, and give him battle. The position of Stoczek (a) was strong in several respects; first, from its commanding elevation; secondly, from the circumstance that the town is protected by the river Swider (b), which forms marshes that are not passable but by a dyke (m) at a short distance from the city, in the direction in which the Russian army was approaching. That dyke was defended by the whole artillery of our corps, consisting of three pieces (e); and the declivity descending toward the dyke was occupied by two companies of light troops dispersed in favorable positions as sharp-shooters, and in such a manner as to act on the dyke. General Dwernicki divided his forces into the smallest possible bodies, to give an appearance of extent to his line, and thus mask his inferiority of force. Leaving a battalion of infantry (d) to protect the artillery and prevent the passage of the dyke,—which passage, he was sure that the enemy could not possibly execute rapidly, and that this small force was sufficient, if not to prevent at least to retard it,—he took the two battalions (d) which made the remainder of his force, and throwing them upon the right bank (A) of this river, in the forest, where an easier and safer passage was open to the enemy, he there awaited the enemy's movements. The first step of the Russians (g, h) was to place all their artillery (f) at the nearest possible point to our position, and to commence a warm fire upon the town. Under this fire they thought to effect the passage of the dyke. General Dwernicki ordered his artillery not to fire, until the Russian columns should make their appearance on the dyke, and then to open a fire of grape upon them. In this manner some hours passed, during which the Russian artillery kept up an ineffectual fire, and the Russian corps executed various manœuvres in attempting to force the passage of the dyke, and in pushing their attack in the direction of the forest. General Kreutz, seeing that his attempts to force the dyke were attended with severe loss, and thinking that in the other direction, the passage would be much more easy, decided on a general attack in that quarter. He divided his corps, leaving one part before the dyke, and with the remainder advanced to the attack of our right (A). Strong columns of Russian infantry and cavalry marched against it. As soon as this manœuvre was observed by Dwernicki, the idea was conceived by him of preventing the attack, by throwing himself with the utmost impetuosity upon the enemy before he had taken a position, and while on the march. He renewed his orders to defend with the utmost firmness the passage of the dyke; and, taking all the cavalry with him, he passed over towards the forest; and, with the united force of this cavalry and the infantry who were concealed in the forest, he threw himself upon the Russian artillery, and the cavalry which was protecting it. In a moment both artillery and cavalry were completely overthrown and dispersed, and seven pieces of cannon remained in our hands. The disorder communicated itself to the columns which were on the march, who thought no longer of following up their attack, but retreated as fast as possible, and in fact a general and disorderly retreat commenced. The ruin of their left wing caused a consternation in the forces composing their right, who, not knowing what had happened, ceased their fire, quitted their position, and joined in the general retreat. Besides the killed and wounded, more than 1,000 prisoners, with twenty officers, were taken, together with a great quantity of ammunition, baggage, &c., among which were several voitures containing the chapels of the camp.[34]

The enemy was followed a short distance only, as the inferiority of our force would not of course admit of an extended pursuit, and it was an important object also with general Dwernicki not to permit the enemy to discover that inferiority. He contented himself therefore with having destroyed nearly a third part of the enemy's corps, and with having thrown his whole force into the greatest consternation. This brilliant affair was the commencement of the remarkable career of general Dwernicki; and it was a propitious opening for our campaign.

General Dwernicki resumed his former position at Stoczek, where he awaited the orders which the commander in chief might issue on receiving the report of what had taken place. To make this position more strong, he ordered a barricade of trees to be made at the termination of the dyke and at the other points where the approach was easy, and, in order to keep a close observation upon the enemy, he sent patrols in the direction of Kock and Zelechow. While thus occupied, he received orders to leave his position immediately by a rapid march in the direction of Zelechow and Macieiowice, then to pass the Vistula and meet the Russian corps under the command of the Prince Wirtemburg, who, after having crossed that river at Pulawa, had made a demonstration on its left bank, and was approaching Warsaw.

On receiving these orders, general Dwernicki left Stoczek on the same night.

In consequence of the enemy's attack upon Dwernicki's corps, which covered our right wing, that wing was inclined and withdrawn towards Kaluszyn, in order not to be exposed to the enemy's demonstrations upon its flank or rear. The town of Minsk was also occupied by a detachment. On the 15th the Russians made a simultaneous attack on Wengrow and Kaluszyn. But the principal attack was intended to be directed against Kaluszyn, or rather the village of Boimie adjoining it. At Wengrow the attack was masked. By a strong attack upon our right wing, the enemy had the design of gaining the great road to Warsaw, a plan which it was of the utmost importance for us to defeat; for, if he should have succeeded in forcing our right wing, he would have cut off our communications with the corps of general Skrzynecki, and Krukowiecki, which were in a more advanced position. Our generals saw the necessity of the most determined defence of the position, and general Zymirski resolved to resist to the last extremity.

BATTLE OF BOIMIE. (See Plan III.)

The battle of Boimie consisted of a persevering effort on the part of the enemy to force the passage of a dyke (k), under the protection of the fire of a strong battery of artillery (e). On our side, every effort was directed to the making of the passage of that dyke as destructive as possible to the enemy. For this object our arrangements were made as follows. On the night of the 14th, we destroyed the bridges (m) over the small river of Kostrzyn, which traverses the dyke or main road in two places. Not far from the nearest bridge, a defence of branches of trees (n) was thrown together, which having been well placed, made a good cover for our marksmen, and for a battalion of infantry (o), which were concealed behind them. The fire of grape from the enemy's artillery was rendered ineffective to a great degree by this mass of trees. Upon the nearest elevations of ground (B), general Zymirski placed eighteen pieces of cannon (a), the fire of which was concentrated upon the dyke. By this means every attempt of the enemy to re-construct the bridge was made to cost him a severe loss, and was rendered ineffectual. The main body of our forces was placed without the reach of the enemy's artillery. On the left of our position, at the distance of about half a mile, a small road (p) led to Dobre, and that road was intersected by the small river above mentioned. The bridge which continued the road over this river was destroyed by us, and a small detachment placed there to prevent its reconstruction and its passage by the enemy.

Boimie III

Such was the distribution of the small force which, profiting by the strength of its position, was able to meet the attacks of the numerous body of the enemy commanded by marshal Diebitsch in person, and which were renewed during the whole day.